''Eucosmodon'' is a

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 extinct 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. It is a member of the extinct order of

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 of

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 the family

Eucosmodontidae Eucosmodontidae is a poorly preserved family of fossil mammals within the extinct order Multituberculata. Representatives are known from strata dating from the Upper Cretaceous through the Lower Eocene of North America, as well as the Paleocene ...

. This genus has partly also been known as Neoplagiaulax. All known

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 ...

s of this small mammal are restricted to teeth.

Species

All known species of ''Eucosmodon'' have been found in the

San Juan Basin The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

(United States). * ''Eucosmodon americanus'' is a species of which

Puercan The Puercan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions ...

(Paleocene)-age fossils have been found. Some, but not all, of this fossil material has been reclassified as ''E. primus''. This animal, which probably weighed something like 750 g, has been cited as a possible descendant of that species. * ''Eucosmodon molestus'' is a species of Torrejonian (Paleocene) age. It has been cited as a possible descendant of ''E. americanus''. * ''Eucosmodon primus'', also from the Puercan part of the Paleocene, have been found in the Nacimiento Formation of the San Juan Basin. This species is based on fossils originally ascribed to ''E. americanus''. * A possible fourth species, ''Eucosmodon kuszmauli'', has also been named.

References

* (Most of this information has been derived from this page) * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5406227 Cimolodonts Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Extinct mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera