''Planetetherium'' is an extinct genus of

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

gliding mammal

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 ...

during the

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

living from 56.8 to 55.4 mya, existing for approximately .PaleoBiology Database: ''Planetetherium'', basic info
/ref> Fossils have been discovered in strata formed from ancient

cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

forests, suggesting that this was the animal's preferred habitat.

Morphology

''Plantetherium'' measured around in length, and its skeleton closely resembled that of its modern relatives. Its teeth already included the comb-like structure distinctive to modern colugos. There is no direct evidence that ''Planetetherium'' had the membrane of skin that allows modern colugos to glide, but its bodily proportions suggests that this was likely the case.

References

Prehistoric placental genera Paleocene mammals Paleocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1928 {{paleo-mammal-stub