pantothere
/ˈpantə(ʊ)θɪə/Palaeontology
noun
A small early therian mammal of the extinct group Pantotheria, known from fossils of the Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous periods and thought to have given rise to both placental and marsupial mammals.
- The pantotheres are now usually included in the group Dryolestoidea..
Origin
1930s; earliest use found in Quarterly Review of Biology. From panto- + -there, after scientific Latin Pantotheria.