''Catopsalis'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of extinct

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

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), ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. This animal was a relatively large member of the extinct

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Multituberculata Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct Order (biology), order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the M ...

. Most multituberculates were much smaller. At one time, the genus was also formally reported from the upper Cretaceous of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. However, that material was subsequently referred to the genera of '' Djadochtatherium'' and '' Catopsbaatar''. ''Catopsalis'' is within the suborder of

Cimolodonta Cimolodonta is a clade of Multituberculata, multituberculate mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ecological niche was assumed by true rodents. The more basal ...

and a member of the superfamily

Taeniolabidoidea Taeniolabidoidea is a group of extinct mammals known whose fossils can be found in North America and Asia. They were the largest members of the extinct order Multituberculata, as well as the largest non-therian mammals. '' Lambdopsalis'' even pr ...

. Recent research suggests that "Catopsalis" is actually a

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

assemblage, and one species, ''C. joyneri'', has been moved to its own genus, '' Valenopsalis''.Thomas E. Williamson, Stephen L. Brusatte, Ross Secord, Sarah Shelley, A new taeniolabidoid multituberculate (Mammalia) from the middle Puercan of the Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico, and a revision of taeniolabidoid systematics and phylogeny, 5 OCT 2015,

Species

The species ''Catopsalis foliatus'' was named by Cope E.D. in 1882. It has also been known as ''C. johnstoni'' (Fox R.C. 1989) and ''Polymastodon foliatus'' (Cope 1884). This species has been found in Puercan (Paleocene)-age strata of the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and in the Ravenscrag Formation of Canada. ''C. johnstoni'', from

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, is also in the Alberta collection. The species ''Catopsalis fissidens'' was named by Cope E.D. in 1884. It has also been known as ''C. utahensis'' (Gazin C.L., 1939) and ''Polymastodon fissidens'' (Cope, 1884). It has been found in the Torrejonian (Paleocene)-age beds in the San Juan Basin of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. The University of Wyoming boasts a possible specimen. The species ''Catopsalis calgariensis'' was named by Russell L.S. in 1926. Remains were found in Paleocene-age

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

of Wyoming and

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. The holotype, collected in 1924, is in the collection of Alberta University. Further material is in the possession of Wyoming University. The species ''Catopsalis alexanderi'' was named by Middleton M.D. in 1982. It is found in the Puercan (Paleocene)-age Littleton Local Fauna of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

(United States), dating from 66 - 63 million years ago. Specimens are included in the collections of the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

in New York and the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University (also known as the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History or the Yale Peabody Museum) is one of the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. The species ''Catopsalis waddleae'' was named by Buckley G.A. in 1995. It has been found in the Puercan age beds of the Simpson Quarry of Montana. Relative to the other species it is an extreme heavyweight. Remains of this species have also recently been discovered in the Idaho panhandle region.

References

* Middleton (1982), "A new species and additional material of ''Catopsalis''(Mammalia, Multituberculata) from the western interior of North Am." ''J. Paleontol.'' 56, p. 1197-1206. * Russell (1926), "A new species of the genus ''Catopsalis''Cope from the Paskapoo formation of Alberta". ''Amer. Jour. Sci.'' 5, p. 230-234, fig. 1. * Gazin (1939), "A further contribution to the Dragon Paleocene fauna of central Utah". ''J. Wash. Acad. Sci.'' 29, p. 273-286, 10 figs. * Fox (1989), "The Wounded Knee local fauna and mammalian evolution near the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Saskatchewan, Canada". Palaeontogy. Abt. A: Paläozool., Stratigr. 208, p. 11-59 + 6 plates. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z. and Hurum J.H. (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. {{Taxonbar, from=Q640821 Cimolodonta Paleocene mammals Prehistoric mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope