Do Mesozoic mammals make good pets?
Many people make articles on whereas you can keep dinosaurs as pets so eh.
Morganucodonts and other basalmost taxa
We start things off interestingly. It has been found that morganucodontids and other basal mammaliaforms were possibly ectothermic (in spite of possessing fur and lactation), so owning such a critter might have very well been like owning a pet reptile without some of the downsides like requiring an UV lamp. In which case they’d be rather low maintenance, which is always good.
Given the aforementioned lactation evidence we know they had parental care, but beyond that we don’t know if they were particularly social animals or not. Given most were carnivorous, I’d say no. Basically, like a monitor lizard: likes cuddles but unlikely to give cuddles back.
9/10 unless you need constant validation.
Stem-monotremes
Even by Mesozoic mammal standards we know very little about basal australosphenids. They were likely more active than their modern counterparts and most likely less specialised (though a study does find that Teinolophos fed primarily on soft bodied invertebrates like modern platypodes) so at least they shouldn’t be harder to keep, though they were probably not very social and the venomous spurs probably wouldn’t be worth it.
3/10.
Docodonts
Docodonts were an incredibly diverse lineage of mammaliaforms that probably would have suited every single one of your mammal pet needs. Need a squirrel mimic to poop on your top drawers? Agilodocodon. Need a false otter to require you to spend twice on your water bill? Castorocauda. Need a mole to dig out your carpet and seldomly interact with? Roughly a third of all known taxa.
Due to this variability it’s also likely that they would have had different levels of sociability and intelligence. The fact that they’re among the few Mesozoic mammaliaforms to be found on the Arctic might suggest some quirk to their biology that differentiates them from your rank and file ancient furball.
All ratings.
Haramiyidans
Haramiyidans are pretty much the first rodent mimics out there. Small omnivores with herbivorous leanings in some cases and a healthy dose of gliders for the flying squirrel crowd.
Unlike the better known multituberculates there still isnt much to go on in regards to how social they were. The fact that they’re typically rarer than them does suggest a general tendency towards more solitary habits. Be sure to supply them with non-angiosperm plants since they died out when they replaced the conifers and ginkgos that dominated Jurassic forests.
2/10.
Multituberculates
The MVPs to be honest. They were pretty much the rodents before there were rodents and most importantly they were social, so expect lots of cuddles.
Of course there’d be species differences (can’t imagine the insectivorous kogaionids would be as easy to feed as the more rat-like ptilodontids, for example, and the larger taeniolabids would require lots of space) and the venomous spurs might be slightly problematic, but those are trivial details.
10/10.
Gondwanatheres
The holy trinity of rodent mimics completed. Aside from the more basal ferugliotheriids, which were less specialised herbivores, most known gondwanatheres were grazers and Adalatherium reveals a rather gracile body plan, so these were probably somewhat akin to rabbits and hares in terms of lifestyle.
Do you like rabbits? I don’t, so 0/10.
Eutriconodonts
Like with docodonts these run a wide range of body plans, except with the more narrow focus of being all carnivorous (and I do mean carnivorous, since most rank with vertebrate predators and only a few with insectivores). Considering how people get along with cat, dogs and ferrets better than most other mammals, this might paradoxically make them among the most relatable pets (considering thylacines and other Australian marsupials were rather easily tamed this does indeed set a precedent for carnivorous mammals being in the same wavelength as people in general).
Some types would be rather annoying to get with. Spinolestes would run the same hazards as owning a porcupine (most had venomous spurs so there’s that to consider in general). Liaoconodon and Yanoconodon would probably require specialised enclosures or else lots of time in the bathtub. Jueconodon was subterraneous and probably dfficult to interact with in general. Volaticotheres would be about as easy to own as a bat, and probably have the same metabolic quirks that would make them a breeding ground for viruses. But the rank and file like Triconodon, Repenomamus or Alticonodon would probably be close to cats in terms of overall living conditions: as long as you can meet their strictly carnivorous diets, you’re good.
The social aspect is something hard to predict, but given the aforementioned precedent among carnivorous mammals alive today I believe they’d be on the approacheable side of the scale. Maybe more on the cat side of things than the dog one: potentially affectionate but needing their me time.
All rankings with the majority being on the better ones.
Symmetrodonts
Hey kids, do you want a shrew? A shrew with venom on it’s hindlimbs? A shrew that climbs all over the place? A shrew tinier than usual so it’s easier to accidentally crush it?
0/10.
Dryolestoids
Like with docodonts these run a large gambit. Most nonetheless tend towards the omnivorous side of things, and given their diversity in the closing stages of the Cretaceous they’d probably not require special dietary needs.
The broad comparison would be to small omnivores like hedgehogs, which I’m told make good pets. Henkelotherium would be somewhat closer to a squirrel, while mesungulatids were relatively large herbivores more akin to small ungulates like goats. The only truly tricky ones to maintain would be necrolestids and Paurodon, which were mole-like and again difficult to interact with.
Mesungulatids at least were fairly common finds so combined with their herbivorous habits it might suggest they were sociable. The goat comparison is again probably accurate all things considered.
Mostly within 5–7/10 aside from the shit-tier digging ones.
Mesozoic therians will get their own article.
