Prionessus

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Prionessus
Temporal range: Thanetian
~59–55  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Multituberculata
Family: Lambdopsalidae
Genus: Prionessus
Species:
P. lucifer
Binomial name
Prionessus lucifer
W.D. Matthew and W. Granger, 1925

Prionessus is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of what is now Central Asia. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by William Diller Matthew and Walter Granger in 1925, and is based on a single species P.lucifer. [1]

Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum believe that members of the Taeniolabidoidea, such as Prionessus, are all quite similar. For example, they all share a short wide snout and a blocky head [2] so it is probably instructive to look at a close and more commonly occurring relative, Lambdopsalis bulla , a likely burrower. [3] [4] Matthew and Granger noted in their discovery that P.lucifer had a robust lower incisor, supportive of this similarity. [5]

Fossil remains have been found in the Late Paleocene Nomogen and Khashat Formations of Gashato, Naran and Nomogen in Bayan Ulan of Mongolia and China. Prionessus fossils range from 59-55 million years ago, through the Thanetian age of the late Paleocene. They were estimated to have had a body mass of about 370 grams (13 oz). [6]

Notes

  1. Matthew and Granger 1925 pp 6-7
  2. Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum, 2001, pg 418-419
  3. Kielan-Jarowoska and Sloan, 1979, pg 195
  4. Kielan-Jarowoska and Qi, 1990, pp 91-92
  5. Matthew and Granger 1925, pp 6-7
  6. Wilson et al 2012, Supplemental Tables 3 and 5

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References