''Neoliotomus'' is a genus of North American 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 ...

. It existed in the age immediately following the extinction of the last

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s and 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 ...

. It lies 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 the superfamily

Ptilodontoidea Ptilodontoidea is a group of extinct mammals from the Northern Hemisphere. They were generally small, somewhat rodent-like creatures of the extinct order Multituberculata. Some of these genera boast a great many species, though remains are g ...

. Other than that, its affinities are somewhat unclear. The genus ''Neoliotomus'' ("new ''

Liotomus ''Liotomus'' is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene epoch (early Cenozoic era). It lived in Europe and North America, and was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata, lying within the suborder Cimolodonta and possibly the fami ...

''") was named by Jepsen G.L. in 1930, and is also known as ''

Eucosmodon ''Eucosmodon'' is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of North America. It is a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata within the suborder of Cimolodonta, and the family Eucosmodontidae. This genus has partly also been known a ...

'' (partly).

Species

The species ''Neoliotomus conventus'', named by Jepsen G.L. in 1930, is known from the

Clarkforkian The Clarkforkian North American Stage, on the geologic timescale, is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 56,800,000 to 55,400,000 years BP lasting . Considered t ...

(Paleocene) DeBeque Formation of

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 ...

and of the

Fort Union Formation The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane. ...

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

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

, (United States). This is a fairly large multituberculate of around 1.9 kg. 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

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 ''Neoliotomus ultimus'' was named by Granger W. and Simpson G.G. in 1928. It has also been known as ''Eucosmodon ultimus'' (Granger & Simpson, 1928).

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 were found in Clarkforkian (Paleocene) strata of

and Colorado. This species is known from a fair number of locations. It is another large multituberculate, which weighed perhaps 2 kg.

References

* Jepsen (1930), "New vertebrate fossils from the Lower Eocene of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming." ''Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc.'' 69, p. 117-131, 4 pls. * 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=Q12901183 Ptilodontoids Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Extinct mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera