''Planetetherium'' is an extinct genus of

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

gliding mammal

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

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 ...

during the

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

living from 56.8 to 55.4 mya, existing for approximately . Fossils have been discovered in strata formed from ancient cypress forests, suggesting that this was the animal's preferred habitat.

Morphology

''Plantetherium'' is estimated to reach around in length, and its known materials closely resembled that of its modern relatives. Its teeth already included the comb-like structure distinctive to modern colugos. Since no postcranial materials have been described for any plagiomenid, there is no direct evidence that ''Planetetherium'' had the membrane of skin that allows modern colugos to glide, but this was likely the case.

References

Prehistoric placental genera Paleocene mammals Paleocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1928 {{paleo-mammal-stub