Batodonoides
| Batodonoides Temporal range: Eocene,
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| Genus: | Batodonoides
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Batodonoides is a genus of extinct shrew-like mammals, which includes a species that is possibly the smallest mammal to have ever lived. Species of Batodonoides lived about 42 to 53 million years ago during the early to middle Eocene Epoch in North America. The genus contains three species, B. powayensis, the type species, the older B. vanhouteni[2] and B. walshi.[3]
Species
B. powayensis
B. powayensis is based on the type specimen UCMP V-96459, and was a ground dwelling insectivore.[4] This species is younger than its counterpart, B. vanhouteni, existing between approximately 46.2 to 42 million years ago. It is based on fossilised remains recovered from California, USA.[1]
B. vanhouteni
Based on the size of its molar teeth, it is estimated that Batodonoides vanhouteni may have weighed only 0.93-1.82 grams (with 1.3 g most likely). The species lived about 53 million years ago during the early Eocene Epoch in North America.[2]
B. vanhouteni, described in 1998 by Bloch and colleagues, is the oldest species, and was discovered in Wasatchian deposits in Wyoming, USA.[1] It is based on a juvenile specimen, consisting of a mandible and some teeth.[2]
References
- ^ a b c Batodonoides at the Paleobiology Database
- ^ a b c Bloch, Jonathan I.; Rose, Kenneth D.; Gingerich, Philip D. (1998). "New Species of Batodonoides (Lipotyphla, Geolabididae) from the Early Eocene of Wyoming: Smallest Known Mammal?". Journal of Mammalogy. 79 (3): 804–827. doi:10.2307/1383090. JSTOR 1383090. Cite error: The named reference "Bloch1998" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Thomas S. Kelly (2010). "New records of Marsupialia, Lipotyphla, and Primates from the Duchesnean (middle Eocene) Simi Valley Lanfill local fauna, Sespe Formation, California". Paludicola. 7 (4): 158–169.
- ^ Novacek, M. J. (1976). Pearce-Sellards Series. 23.
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