''Anconodon'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of mammal from the

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...

of North America, and thus lived just after the " age of the dinosaurs". It was a member of the extinct order

Multituberculata Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, a ...

within the suborder

Cimolodonta Cimolodonta is a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ...

and possibly the family

Cimolodontidae Cimolodontidae is a family of fossil mammals within the extinct order Multituberculata. Representatives are known from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of North America. The family Cimolodontidae was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889 a ...

. The genus ''Anconodon'' was named by G. L. Jepsen in 1940. It is also known as ''Ectopodon'' (Russell 1967); '' Ectypodus'' (partly); '' Liotomus'' (partly); and ''

Ptilodus ''Ptilodus'' (meaning "soft-haired") is a genus of mammals from the extinct order of Multituberculata, and lived during the Paleocene in North America. ''Ptilodus'' was a relatively large multituberculate of in length, which is about the same s ...

'' (partly).

Species

The species ''Anconodon cochranensis'' was named by Russell in 1929 and Van Valen and Sloan in 1966. It has also been known as ''A. russelli'' (Simpson 1935; Jepsen 1940); ''Ectopodon cochranensis'' (Russel 1967); ''Ectypodus cochranensis'' (Simpson 1937a); ''Ectypodus russelli'' (Simpson 1935d); ''Liotomus russelli''; and ''Ptilodus cochranensis'' (Russell 1929).

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains have been found in the Tiffanian (Middle-Upper Paleocene)-age strata of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

(Canada) and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

(United States). It has been cited as a descendant of ''A. gidleyi''. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

is in the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

collection. The body mass has been estimated to be about 55 g, the weight of two standard mice. The species ''Anconodon gidleyi'' was named by Simpson G.G. in 1935 and Jepsen G.L. in 1940. It has also been known as ''A. gibleyi'' and ''Ptilodus ?gidleyi'' (Simpson 1935d). Fossil remains have been found in the Torrejonian (Middle-Upper Paleocene)-age strata of the Gidley Quarry in Montana and in Wyoming, New Mexico and Alberta. This species is cited as a possible descendant of '' Cimolodon nitidus''. The species: ''Anconodon lewisi'' was named by Sloan R.E. in 1987. Fossil remains were discovered in the Middle-Upper Paleocene-age strata of Keefer Hill in Wyoming and Douglass Quarry in Montana. The

is from Wyoming.

References

* Simpson (1935), "New Paleocene mammals from the Fort Union of Montana". ''Proc. US Nation. Museum'' 83, p. 221-244. * Jepsen (1940), "Paleocene faunas of the Polecat Bench formation, Park County, Wyoming". ''Pro. Amer. Philos. Soc'' 83, p. 217-340, 21 figs., 5pls. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Much of this information has been derived fro

MESOZOIC MAMMALS: Ptilodontoidea, an Internet directory. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4753104 Ptilodontoids Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Extinct mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera