''Mimetodon'' is a small 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 perhaps

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. 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 family

Neoplagiaulacidae Neoplagiaulacidae is a family of mammal within the extinct order Multituberculata. Fossil remains are known from the Upper Cretaceous through to the latest Eocene/early Oligocene. Representatives have been found in North America, Europe and Asi ...

. The genus ''Mimetodon'' was named by Jepsen G.L. in 1940. It has also been known as '' Ectypodus'' (partly); '' Mesodma'' (partly); ''

Neoplagiaulax ''Neoplagiaulax'' is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of Europe and North America. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper Cretaceous material too. It existed in the age immediately following the e ...

'' (partly). McKenna and Bell (1997) lists possible material from the Upper Paleocene(?) of Europe.

Species

The species ''Mimetodon churchilli'' was named by Jepsen G.L. in 1940. Remains were found in the Tiffanian (Middle Paleocene)-age strata of Princeton Quarry in

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). 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 collection of the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University is among the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It was founded by the philanthropist George Peabody in 1866 at the behest of his nephew Oth ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. The species ''Mimetodon krausei'' was named by Sloan R.E. in 1981. Remains were found in the Puercan (Lower Paleocene)-age strata of the San Juan Basin of

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). This

's also in the collection of the Peabody Museum, Yale. The species ''? Mimetodon nanophus'' was named by Holtzman in 1978. It has also been known as ''Neoplagiaulax nanophus'' (Holtzman 1978). Remains were found in the Middle-Upper Paleocene-age strata of the Tongue River Formation in

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

(United States). This might be the same as ''M. silberlingi''. The species ''Mimetodon silberlingi'' was named by Simpson G.G. in 1935 and Schiebout in 1974. It has also been known as ''Ectypodus? silberlingi'' (Simpson 1935d); ''Mesodma silberlingi'' (Van Valen & Sloan 1966); and ''?M. nanophus''. Remains were found in the Torrejonian-Tiffanian (Middle Paleocene)-age strata in the Gidley Quarry of

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 in Wyoming, North Dakota and

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. This species weighed an estimated 20 g.

References

* Sloan (1981), Systematics of Paleocene multituberculates from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, p. 127-160, in Lucas et al. (eds), Advances in San Juan Basin paleontology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. * Holtzman (1978), ''NDGS Reports Invest.'' 65. * 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. * McKenna MC & Bell SK, (1997), "Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level". Columbia University Press. * Much of this information has been derived fro

MESOZOIC MAMMALS: Ptilodontoidea, an Internet directory. {{Taxonbar, from=Q6862083 Ptilodontoids Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Paleogene mammals of Europe Prehistoric mammal genera