Reinomys is an extinct genus of Palaeogene rodents of unclear affinities belonging to the infraorder Theridomorpha. The genus and its only known species Reinomys rhomboides were both named by the French palaeontologists Monique Vianey-Liaud and Laurent Marivaux in 2021 based on some lower molars from the French locality of Avenay that dates back to the later early Eocene. It is diagnosed as being similar in size to another basal rodent Sparnacomys but differing based on specific traits of the tooth surfaces and cusps.[1]

Reinomys
Temporal range: Early Eocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Infraorder: Theridomorpha
Genus: Reinomys
Vianey-Liaud & Marivaux, 2021
Species:
R. rhomboides
Binomial name
Reinomys rhomboides
Vianey-Liaud & Marivaux, 2021

Within the locality of Avenay (MP8 + 9 of the Mammal Palaeogene zones), Reinomys would have coexisted with other contemporary faunas known from the deposit such as the ischyromyid Pseudoparamys, eulipotyphlans Macrocranion and Leptacodon, and the proviverrine Morlodon.[2][3]

References

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  1. ^ Monique, Vianey-Liaud; Marivaux, Laurent (2021). "The beginning of the adaptive radiation of Theridomorpha (Rodentia) in Western Europe: morphological and phylogenetic analyses of early and middle Eocene taxa; implications for systematics". Palaeovertebrata. 44. doi:10.18563/pv.44.2.e2.
  2. ^ Smith, Thierry; Smith, Richard (2003). "Terrestrial mammals as biostratigraphic indicators in upper Paleocene–lower Eocene marine deposits of the southern North Sea Basin". Geological Society of America Special Papers. 369: 513–520. doi:10.1130/0-8137-2369-8.513.
  3. ^ Solé, Floréal (2013). "New proviverrine genus from the Early Eocene of Europe and the first phylogeny of Late Palaeocene–Middle Eocene hyaenodontidans (Mammalia)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (4): 375–398. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.686927.