\[ **BT: [[life#the origin of species and the process of speciation]] [[mammals]] | [[rodents]]** ] --- # Morganucodon > ‘*Morganucodon.* 205 million years ago. Eve of [[mammals#lactation|mammalian milk]]. Initially found in [[countries of the world#Wales|Wales]], but since found as far as [[China]]—this was a widely spread, highly successful creature. She was a bit like a cross between a weasel and a mouse. She’s not assumed to be our direct ancestor, but an “exemplar” genus; our true lactating \[ancestor] was probably a lot like her.’[^1] Morganucodon is well-represented by ‘abundant and well-preserved material’.[^2] First appearing some 205 million years ago, it lived from the [[geologic time#Triassic|Late Triassic]] to the [[geologic time#Jurassic|Middle Jurassic]][^3] ![[Wikimedia Commons - by FunkMonk - Morganucodon - CC BY-SA 3.0.jpg]] <small>Life restoration of *Morganucodon oehleri*, by FunkMonk (CC BY-SA 3.0).[^4]</small> Some believe that Morganucodon closely resembled our [[mammals#primal mammalian ancestor|primal mammalian ancestor]].[^5] [^1]: Cat Bohannon, *[[Bohannon, Eve, 2023|Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution]]* (Hutchinson Heinemann, 2023), p. 21. [^2]: ‘Morganucodon’, Wikipedia, last edited 3 September 2025, 21:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morganucodon. [^3]: ‘Morganucodon’, Wikipedia, last edited 3 September 2025, 21:18 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morganucodon. [^4]: FunkMonk (Michael B. H.) \[pseud.], ‘Morganucodon’, Wikimedia Commons, uploaded 27 January 2014, 10:35 (UTC), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morganucodon.jpg. Licensed [CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). [^5]: Nergis Firtina, ‘[[Firtina, ‘An Ancient Rodent Morganucodon is the Ancestor of All Mammals Including Humans, Study Finds’, 2022|An Ancient Rodent Morganucodon is the Ancestor of All Mammals Including Humans, Study Finds]]’, *Interesting Engineering*, 28 September 2022, https://interestingengineering.com/science/an-ancient-rodent-morganucodon-is-the-ancestor-of-all-mammals-including-humans-study-finds.