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       Steropodon was a small mammal that lived alongside the dinosaurs in the mid-Cretaceous time period. It was a monotreme, an order of mammals that includes all egg-laying mammals, including the modern platypus and echidnas.

Facts[]

Steropodon was a prehistoric species of monotreme, or egg-laying mammal, that lived during the middle Albian stage, in the Lower Cretaceous period. It was once thought to look like a platypus though this is now known to be incorrect.

In Walking with... Series[]

Walking with Dinosaurs[]

Spirits of the Ice Forest[]

In the fifth episode of Walking with Dinosaurs, a Steropodon (live acted by a coati) is seen attempting to steal eggs from a Leaellynasaura; however the dinosaur drives it off by kicking dirt back at it.

Errors[]

  • Steropodon was a monotreme; at the time the WWD series, it was thought to be similar to the modern platypus. Yet it was depicted by a live Coati, which looks nothing like a platypus, and presumably not at all like what one would expect Steropodon to look like. However, recent studies on a relative, Teinolophos, show that it was a rather different animal from modern platypuses, lacking a beak and having teeth, so in retrospect WWD's depiction was justifiable (though one shouldn't expect Steropodon to look exactly like a Coatimundi either).
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