Paramys

Paramys; Temporal range: Late Paleocene - Middle Eocene
	Skull
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Suborder:	Sciuromorpha
Infraorder:	Protrogomorpha
Family:	† Ischyromyidae
Genus:	† Paramys ; Leidy, 1871
Species
	P. adamus; P. atavus; P. compressidens; P. copei; P. delicatior; P. delicatus; P. excavatus; P. hunti; P. nini; P. pycnus; P. simpsoni; P. taurus;

Last updated April 08, 2025

Paramys is an extinct genus of rodents from North America, Europe, and Asia. It is one of the oldest genera of rodents known and probably lived in trees. While the genus name literally means "near a mouse",^[1] it coexisted with Thisbemys, a similar rodent, thus yielding a reference to Pyramus and Thisbe.

Description

The brain of both the Early Eocene P. copei and the Middle Eocene P. delicatus was characterised by a lower neocortical surface area, smaller paraflocculi, and larger olfactory bulbs relative to total endocranial volume of later rodents, and they both possessed encephalisation quotients higher than that of Ischyromys typus .^[2]

References

↑ "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
↑ Bertrand, Ornella C.; Amador-Mughal, Farrah; Silcox, Mary T. (27 January 2016). "Virtual endocasts of Eocene Paramys (Paramyinae): oldest endocranial record for Rodentia and early brain evolution in Euarchontoglires". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 283 (1823): 20152316. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2316. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 4795019 . PMID 26817776 . Retrieved 7 April 2025– via The Royal Society Publishing.

Matthew, W. D. 1910. On the osteology and relationships of Paramys and the affinities of the Ischyromyidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 28:43–72.
Kenneth D. Rose, 2006. The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore MD. pp. 306–335
Kenneth D. Rose and Brenda J. Chinnery. The Postcranial Skeleton of Early Eocene Rodents. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Volume 36, Issue 1 (December 2004): pp. 211–244
Tullberg, T. 1899. Ueber das System der Nagethiere. Eine Phylogenetische Studie. Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Scient Upsala, ser. 3, vol. 18: v + 514 pp., 57 pls
Wodd A. E. 1962. The Early Tertiary rodents of the family Paramyidae. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. new series 52(1): 1–261.

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[1] "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.

[2] Bertrand, Ornella C.; Amador-Mughal, Farrah; Silcox, Mary T. (27 January 2016). "Virtual endocasts of Eocene Paramys (Paramyinae): oldest endocranial record for Rodentia and early brain evolution in Euarchontoglires". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 283 (1823): 20152316. doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.2316. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 4795019 . PMID 26817776 . Retrieved 7 April 2025– via The Royal Society Publishing.

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Paramys

Contents

Description

References

Further reading