Protictis early | |
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lower jaw of Protictis haydenianus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Superfamily: | † Viverravoidea |
Family: | † Viverravidae |
Subfamily: | † Didymictinae |
Genus: | † Protictis Matthew, 1937 [1] |
Type species | |
†Protictis haydenianus Cope, 1882 | |
Species | |
[see classification] | |
Synonyms | |
Protictis ("first weasel") is an extinct paraphyletic genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America from early Paleocene to middle Eocene. [4] [5]
The name of genus Protictis comes from Ancient Greek πρῶτος- (prôtos-) 'first' and Latin ictis.
Protictis was a mongoose-like animal that was lightly built. [6] The species had variable sizes. Parts of the skeleton of P. haydenianus are known and this species was about 75 cm long, comparable to the related Didymictis and the modern day Asian civets. [7] The skull of P. simpsoni shows that this species was larger than P. haydenianus. P. minor on the other hand was smaller than P. haydenianus. The morphology of the limb bones of P haydenianus points at a scansorial lifestyle. Protictis had two times as many teeth as modern carnivores. The characteristic carnassials of carnivores were already clearly developed in Protictis, but the long and pointy teeth show that insects were still a major component of this diet. Endocasts of the skull shows that both vision and hearing were important senses, but the position of the eye sockets shows that threedimensional vision was not as well developed as in modern carnivores. [8]
Fossils of Protictis are found in the United States and Canada and date mainly from the early to late Paleocene. The holotype of first discovered species (a part of the upper and lowe jaw) were described in 1882 by Edward Drinker Cope based on finds in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico and classified as Didymictis haydenianus. William Diller Matthew described Protictis as a subgenus of Didymictis in 1937 and in 1966 MacIntyre classified it as a separate genus.
Subgenus: | Species: | Distribution of the species and type locality: | Age: |
---|---|---|---|
†P. agastor(Gingerich & Winkler, 1985) [9] | USA (Cedar Point Quarry in Wyoming) | 60.9 - 56.2 Ma | |
†P. haydenianus(Cope, 1882) [10] | USA
| 63.8 - 56.2 Ma | |
†P. minor(Meehan & Wilson, 2002) [13] | USA (New Mexico) | 63.8 - 60.9 Ma | |
†P. paralus(Holtzman, 1978) [14] | Canada (Alberta and Saskatchewan) USA
| 60.9 - 56.2 Ma | |
†P. simpsoni(Meehan & Wilson, 2002) [13] | USA (New Mexico) | 63.8 - 60.9 Ma | |
† Protictoides (Flynn & Galiano, 1982) | †P. aprophatos(Flynn & Galiano, 1982) [15] | USA (Wyoming) | 46.2 - 39.7 Ma |
Parectypodus is an extinct genus of mammals that lived from Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to Eocene time in North America. It is a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata, suborder Cimolodonta, family Neoplagiaulacidae. It was named by G.L. Jepsen in 1930.
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Oxyaenidae is a family of extinct carnivorous placental mammals. Traditionally classified in order Creodonta, this group is now classified in its own order Oxyaenodonta within clade Pan-Carnivora in mirorder Ferae. The group contains four subfamilies comprising fourteen genera. Oxyaenids were the first to appear during the late Paleocene in North America, while smaller radiations of oxyaenids in Europe and Asia occurred during the Eocene.
Viverravidae is an extinct monophyletic family of mammals from extinct superfamily Viverravoidea within the clade Carnivoramorpha, that lived from the early Palaeocene to the late Eocene in North America, Europe and Asia. They were once thought to be the earliest carnivorans and ancestral to extant ones, but now are placed outside the order Carnivora based on cranial morphology as relatives to extant carnivorans.
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Miacoidea is a former paraphyletic superfamily of extinct placental mammals that lived during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 66-33,9 million years ago. This group had been traditionally divided into two families of primitive carnivorous mammals: Miacidae and Viverravidae. These mammals were basal to order Carnivora, the crown-group within the Carnivoramorpha.
Carnivoramorpha is a clade of placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae, that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.
Mesonychidae is an extinct family of small to large-sized omnivorous-carnivorous mammals. They were endemic to North America and Eurasia during the Early Paleocene to the Early Oligocene, and were the earliest group of large carnivorous mammals in Asia. They are not closely related to any living mammals. Mesonychid taxonomy has long been disputed and they have captured popular imagination as "wolves on hooves," animals that combine features of both ungulates and carnivores. Skulls and teeth have similar features to early whales, and the family was long thought to be the ancestors of cetaceans. Recent fossil discoveries have overturned this idea; the consensus is that whales are highly derived artiodactyls. Some researchers now consider the family a sister group either to whales or to artiodactyls, close relatives rather than direct ancestors. Other studies define Mesonychia as basal to all ungulates, occupying a position between Perissodactyla and Ferae. In this case, the resemblances to early whales would be due to convergent evolution among ungulate-like herbivores that developed adaptations related to hunting or eating meat.
Palaearctonyx is an extinct genus of omnivorous placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America from early to middle Eocene.
Uintacyon is an extinct paraphyletic genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America from early to middle Eocene.
Vassacyon is an extinct genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Paleocene to early Eocene. It is considered the largest of the early Eocene mammals.
Xinyuictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in Asia from early to late Eocene.
Bryanictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America, from the early to late Paleocene.
Didymictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Paleocene to middle Eocene.
Intyrictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America during early Paleocene.
Raphictis is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America during late Paleocene.
Tillodontia is an extinct suborder of eutherian mammals known from the Early Paleocene to Late Eocene of China, the Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene of North America where they display their maximum species diversity, the Middle Eocene of Pakistan, and the Early Eocene of Europe. Leaving no descendants, they are most closely related to the pantodonts, another extinct group. The tillodonts were medium- to large-sized animals that probably feed on roots and tubers in temperate to subtropical habitats.
Viverravus is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Viverravinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America, Europe and Asia from the middle Paleocene to middle Eocene.
Didymictinae is an extinct subfamily of mammals from extinct family Viverravidae, that lived from the early Palaeocene to the middle Eocene in North America and Europe.