The genus name Vilevolodon references its gliding capabilities, Vilevol (Latin for “glider”), while don (Greek for “tooth”) is a common suffix for mammalian taxon titles.
As the volant herbivorous lifestyle is previously only known from therian gliders, Vilevolodon stands as evidence of locomotor convergence, as well as mammaliaform evolutionary experimentation during the Jurassic.
Descriptions were carried out based on a skull with preserved teeth in occlusion and a mandibular inner ear, and a fairly complete post-cranial skeleton with carbonized residue of a patagial skin membrane, which has been interpreted as a gliding mechanism.
The holotype was found at the Nanshimen site of the Tiaojishan Formation in Quinglong County, Hebei Province, China, and is currently housed at the Beijing Museum of Natural History.
[1] Based on dental morphological characteristics, Vilevolodon is inferred have had an herbivorous diet, likely consisting largely of seeds and soft plant tissues.
Meng et al cited the relative proportions of limb bones, and the acromion-clavicle joint which allowed for significant shoulder mobility as supportive of a stance required for gliding locomotion.
[3] The shortened shape of the astragalus and calcaneus resemble those of a modern bat, and the proximal pedal phalanx has a pronounced groove used for tendon attachment which is observed in mammals with enhanced grasping capabilities.
Analysis using STL models and tomography scans suggest that this occlusal pattern allows for a complex mechanism of dual crushing and grinding capabilities.
[7] Luo posits that Vilevolodon either had an unusually accelerated completion of molar eruptions, or the incisor replacement captured in the holotype represents a paedomorphic adult feature.
Current studies have demonstrated that Euharamiyidans are more basal mammaliaformes as based upon a variety of characteristics, including dentition and inferred diet, and incomplete transformation of mandibular elements into the mammalian middle ear bones.
Haramiyid fossil samples representing craniodental and postcranial elements have been uncovered and described since its original diagnosis, and more recent studies have worked to clarify the phylogeny.
A more recent variant upon the hypothesis of Haramiyids, and by extension, Euharamiyids, being members of mammalia by Krause et al has postulated a close taxonomic relationship to the gondwanatherian-multituberculate clade.
[15] Flora sampled from the Tiaojishan Formation representing the Middle to Late Jurassic indicate a subtropical to temperate environment with warm and humid climates throughout prehistoric Liaoning and Hebei provinces.