Prionessus

Prionessus is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of what is now Central Asia. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by William Diller Matthew and Walter Granger in 1925, and is based on a single species P.lucifer.[1]

Prionessus
Temporal range: Thanetian
~
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Multituberculata
Family: †Lambdopsalidae
Genus: †Prionessus
Species:
†P. lucifer
Binomial name
†Prionessus lucifer
W.D. Matthew and W. Granger, 1925

Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum believe that members of the Taeniolabidoidea, such as Prionessus, are all quite similar. For example, they all share a short wide snout and a blocky head [2] so it is probably instructive to look at a close and more commonly occurring relative, Lambdopsalis bulla, a likely burrower.[3][4] Matthew and Granger noted in their discovery that P.lucifer had a robust lower incisor, supportive of this similarity.[5]

Fossil remains have been found in the Late Paleocene Nomogen and Khashat Formations of Gashato, Naran and Nomogen in Bayan Ulan of Mongolia and China. Prionessus fossils range from 59-55 million years ago, through the Thanetian age of the late Paleocene. They were estimated to have had a body mass of about 370 grams (13 oz).[6]

Notes
  1. Matthew and Granger 1925 pp 6-7
  2. Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum, 2001, pg 418-419
  3. Kielan-Jarowoska and Sloan, 1979, pg 195
  4. Kielan-Jarowoska and Qi, 1990, pp 91-92
  5. Matthew and Granger 1925, pp 6-7
  6. Wilson et al 2012, Supplemental Tables 3 and 5

References
  • Dykes, Trevor. "Mesozoic Mammals;Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an internet directory". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012.
  • Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Hurum, J.H. (2001). "Phylogeny and Systematics of Multituberculate Mammals". Palaeontology. 44 (3): 389–429. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00185.
  • Kielan-Jaworowska, Zofia; Qi, Tao (1990). "Fossorial adaptations of a Taeniolabidoid Multituberculate mammal from the Eocene of China". Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 28 (2): 83–94.
  • Kielan-Jaworowska, Kielan; Sloan, Robert E. (1979). "Catopsalis (Multituberculata) from Asia and North America and the problem of taeniolabidid dispersal in the Late Cretaceous". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 24 (2): 187–197.
  • Matthew, W.D.; Granger, W. (1925). "Fauna and Correlation of the Gashato Formation of Mongolia". American Museum Novitates (189). American Museum of Natural History, New York: 1–12.
  • Wilson, Gregory P.; Evans, Alistair R.; Corfe, Ian J.; Smits, Peter D.; Fortelius, Mikael; Jernvall, Jukka (2012). "Adaptive radiation of multituberculate mammals before the extinction of dinosaurs". Nature. 483 (7390): 457–460. doi:10.1038/nature10880. PMID 22419156. S2CID 4419772.
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