Psittacotherium ("parrot beast")[7] is an extinct genus of taeniodonts from extinct tribe Psittacotheriini within subfamily Stylinodontinae and family Stylinodontidae, that lived in North America from early to late Paleocene.[8][9][10][11][12] With a weight between 35.6 kg (78 lb) and 71.2 kg (157 lb),[8] and length of 1.125 m (3 ft 8.3 in),[8] it had similar size of a large dog.[13]

Psittacotherium
Temporal range: 62.4–56.2 Ma early to late paleocene
life restoration of
Psittacotherium multifragum
skull of
Psittacotherium multifragum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Clade: Eutheria
Infraclass: Placentalia (?)
Order: Taeniodonta
Superfamily: Stylinodontoidea
Family: Stylinodontidae
Subfamily: Stylinodontinae
Tribe: Psittacotheriini
Schoch, 1982[2]
Genus: Psittacotherium
Cope, 1882[1]
Type species
Psittacotherium multifragum
Cope, 1882
Synonyms[3]
synonyms of genus:
  • Hemiganus (Cope, 1882)[4]
synonyms of species:
  • P. multifragum:
    • Hemiganus vultuosus (Cope, 1882)
    • Psittacotherium aspasiae (Cope, 1882)[5]
    • Psittacotherium megalodus (Cope, 1887)[6]

Phylogeny

edit
 Placentalia 

Atlantogenata  

Boreoeutheria  

Palaeoryctida

Ambilestes

Procerberidae

Alveugena

 †Taeniodonta 

Schowalteria

 †Stylinodontoidea 
 †Stylinodontidae 

Wortmaniinae  

 †Stylinodontinae 
 †Psittacotheriini 
 †Psittacotherium 

Psittacotherium multifragum  

References

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  1. ^ E. D. Cope (1882.) "A new genus of Tillodonta." The American Naturalist 16:156-157
  2. ^ Schoch, R. M. (1982.) "Phylogeny, classification and paleobiology of the Taeniodonta (Mammalia: Eutheria)." Third North Am. Paleontol. Conv. Proc. 2: 465-70
  3. ^ J. Alroy (2002.) "Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals."
  4. ^ E. D. Cope (1882.) "A new form of Taeniodonta." The American Naturalist 16:831-832
  5. ^ E. D. Cope (1882) "Contributions to the history of the Vertebrata of the lower Eocene of Wyoming and New Mexico, made during 1881." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 20 (111): 139–197
  6. ^ E. D. Cope (1887.) "Some new Taenidonta of the Puerco." Am. Nat. 21: 469
  7. ^ Palmer, Theodore Sherman (1904). Index Generum Mammalium: A List of the Genera and Families of Mammals. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  8. ^ a b c Schoch, Robert M. (1986.) "Systematics, functional morphology and macroevolution of the extinct mammalian order Taeniodonta." Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, (42).
  9. ^ McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11012-9. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  10. ^ S. G. Lucas, R. M. Schoch, and T. E. Williamson (1998.) "Taeniodonta". In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals", Cambridge University Press, 703 pages
  11. ^ Williamson, T. E.; Brusatte, S. L. (2013). Viriot, Laurent (ed.). "New Specimens of the Rare Taeniodont Wortmania (Mammalia: Eutheria) from the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Comments on the Phylogeny and Functional Morphology of "Archaic" Mammals". PLOS ONE. 8 (9): e75886. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...875886W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0075886. PMC 3786969. PMID 24098738.
  12. ^ "Psittacotherium". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  13. ^ "Paleocene mammals of the world". www.paleocene-mammals.de. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 17 September 2022.