Mammals had been living in the shadow of the dinosaurs for millions of years, but the Cretaceous saw them become far more active threats towards the dinosaurs. Didelphodon was among them, raiding the nests of dinosaurs that lived around them. They were voracious little creatures, and were quite daring when it came to their raids on the nests on even the biggest predators.

Basic info

Meaning of name: Didelphodon means "opossum tooth".

Time of existance: Didelphodon lived in the late Cretaceous, 73 million to 66 million years ago.

Diet: Didelphodon was an oppurtunistic carnivore, feeding on dinosaur eggs and young, as well as carrion and possibly other small mammals. However, it is possible that they had some fruit and plants in their diet.

Threats: Didelphodon's lifestyle naturally put it at risk from angry mother dinosaurs. It would risk being trampled by herbivores, or even straight up eaten by carnivores. It's possible some pterosaurs also fed on them.

Size: Didelphodon was only about a foot long.

Attributes: Like most mammals, Didelphodon had fur. They also had strong teeth that allowed them to break into dinosaur eggs, as well as claws to help them dig and burrow into dinosaur nests. They were also marsupials, so they would carry their young in pouches.

A Didelphodon trying to eat a dinosaur egg

Appearances in the Walking with... series

Walking with Dinosaurs

Episode 6-Death of a Dynasty

Didelphodon is a recurring creature in the episode. In the beginning of the episode, we see a female Didelphodon sniffing out the nest of a dinosaur, and she begins to burrow into it, the smell blinding her to danger. Unfortunately, the nest belonged to an angry mother Tyrannosaurus, who charges in and devours the marsupial.

Didelphodon hunting

Later, we see the same nest, having now been abandoned, and a Didelphodon has taken advantage of that, burrowing into it and eating one of the eggs. As the Didelphodon rolls the other egg and breaks it, preparing to feed, a second Didelphodon arrives, and the two begin growling at each other before engaging in a violent fight, and the intruder is chased off.

A Didelphodon burrowing into a Tyrannosaurus nest

A few months later, the mother Tyrannosaurus builds another nest, and during the evening, it is attacked by a group of Didelphodons. However, the mother is able to scare them off, and successfully kills and eats one of them. The other Didelphodon look back at the nest before wisely fleeing, being desperate with food becoming scarce. The next morning, a Didelphodon is seen feeding on the carcass of a young Torosaurus that was killed by a pair of Dromaeosaurus. Two months later, we see two Didelphodon watching the Tyrannosaurus chicks feeding, knowing not to get too close. They do not appear for the remainder of the episode.

Walking with Beasts

Episode 1-New Dawn

A Didelphodon is briefly seen in the opening synopsis, where it is seen running from a confrontation between a Tyrannosaurus and an Ankylosaurus.