''Neoplagiaulax'' is a

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

from the

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

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 Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

material too. It existed in the age immediately following the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

ion 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. This animal 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 ...

, lying within the

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

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 ecolo ...

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 Asia. ...

. The genus ''Neoplagiaulax'' ("new ''

Plagiaulax ''Plagiaulax'' is a genus of mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Europe. It was a member of the also extinct order Multituberculata, and shared the world with dinosaurs. It is of the suborder "Plagiaulacida" and family Plagiaulacidae. The genus ...

''") was named by Lemoine V. in 1882.

Species

*''Neoplagiaulax annae'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) has been found in

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...

of Cernay,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. *''?Neoplagiaulax burgessi'' (Archibald J.D. 1982) has been found in

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

(Upper Cretaceous) strata of

Hell Creek The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions of ...

, USA. *''Neoplagiaulax copei'' (Lemoine V. 1885) has been found in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France. It has been cited as a possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. *''Neoplagiaulax donaldorum'' (Scott C.S., Krause D.W. 2006) found in early Tiffanian (late Paleocene) strata in eastern

Crazy Mountains The Crazy Mountains, often called the Crazies, is a mountain range in the Central Montana Alkalic Province in the U.S. state of Montana. They are a part of the northern Rocky Mountains. Geography Spanning a distance of 40 miles (64 km), ...

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 Columbi ...

*''Neoplagiaulax eocaenus'' (Lemoine V. 1880)is also known as ''N. eocänus'' and ''Plagiaulax eocaenus''. It was found in Upper Paleocene of Cernay, France. It has also been cited as a possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. *''Neoplagiaulax grangeri'' (Simpson G.G. 1935) (Gazin, 1969) is also known as ''Ectypodus? grangeri'' (Simpson, 1935). It was found in Torrejonian (Paleocene) of Gidley Quarry,

(USA). It was a further possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. Its weight was around 100 g, a quarter of that of a standard rat. *''Neoplagiaulax hazeni'' (Jepsen G.L. 1940; Krause D.W. 1977) is also known as ''Ectypodus hazeni'' (Jepsen G.L. 1940) and ''N. fractus'' (partially). It is known from the

Tiffanian The Tiffanian 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 60,200,000 to 56,800,000 years BP lasting . It is usually co ...

(Middle-Upper Paleocene) of Princeton Quarry,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, 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 south ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

(USA). Its body weight has been estimated at 95 g. Further material, including the type fossil, can be visited at 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 Othn ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. *''Neoplagiaulax hunteri'' (Simpson G.G. 1936), (Krause DW, 1977) is also known as ''Ectypodus hunteri'' (Simpson, 1936).It was discovered in Torrejonian-Tiffanian (Middle Paleocene) strata of Scarritt Quarry in Montana, Wyoming and 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. Several specimens are at the Peabody Museum of Yale, where the name ''E.'' is sometimes employed. It likely weighed about 45 g. *''Neoliotomus jepi'' (Sloan R.E. 1987) is known from the Tiffanian (Paleocene) of Cedar Point Quarry, Wyoming (USA). *''Neoplagiaulax kremnus'' (Johnston P.A. and Fox R.C. 1984) was found in Puercan (Lower Paleocene) strata of Rav W-1 in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Canada. The holotype is in the collection of the

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

. *''Neoplagiaulax macintyrei'' (Sloan R.E. 1981) was found in Puercan (Lower Paleocene)

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 a ...

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, Ker ...

and

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

(USA). *''Neoliotomus macrotomeus'' (Wilson 1956; Sloan 1987) is also known as ''Ectypodus macrotomeus'' (Wilson 1956. It was found in Puercan-Torrejonian (Lower Paleocene) strata of the San Juan Basin of New Mexico (USA). It is possibly derived from '' Mesodma formosa''. It weighed about 15 g. *''Neoplagiaulax mckennai'' (Sloan R.E. 1987)is also known as ''N. mckennaiai''. It was found in Tiffanian (Middle-Upper Paleocene) strata of Love Quarry in Wyoming and North Dakota. It weighed an estimated 60 g. *''Neoplagiaulax nelsoni'' (Sloan R.E. 1987)was discovered in the Puercan-Torrejonian (Middle-Upper Paleocene) strata of Wyoming and Purgatory Hill of Montana and Alberta. The type fossil is from Keefer Hill (a.k.a. Shotgun) Wyoming. This species was

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

-sized, weighing about 25 g. *''Neoplagiaulax nicolai'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) was discovered in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France. *''Neoplagiaulax sylvani'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) was found in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France.

References

* Lemoine (1885), "Étude sur quelqes mammifères de petite taille de la faune cernaysienne des environs de Reims." ''Bull. Soc. Géol. France'' 3, p. 203-217, pls. x-xii. * Archibald (1982), "A study of Mammalia and Geology across the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in Garfield County, Montana." ''University of California Publications in Geological Sciences,'' vol. 122, p. 242-243. * 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., 5p ls. * Krause (1977), "Paleocene multituberculates (Mammalia) of the Roche Percee Local Fauna, Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada." ''Palaeontographica Abt. A 159'', p. 1-36. * Johnston & Fox (1984), Paleocene and Late Cretaceous mammals from Skaksatchewan, Canada. Paleontogr. Abt. A: Paläozool., Stratigr. 186, p. 163-222. * 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. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals." ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Vianey-Liaud (1986), Les Multituberculés Thanétiens de France, et leurs rapports avec les Multituberculés Nord-Américains. Palaeontogr. Abt. A: Paläozool. Stratigr. 191 p. 85-171, 3 plates. {{Taxonbar, from=Q6993693 Ptilodontoids Cretaceous mammals Paleocene mammals Paleocene mammals of North America Paleocene animals of Europe Paleogene mammals of Europe Paleocene genus extinctions Prehistoric mammal genera