''Batodonoides'' (often misspelled as ''Batonoides'') 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 during the early to middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Epoch in North America. The genus contains four species: the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

''B. powayensis'', the older ''B. vanhouteni'', ''B. walshi'' and ''B. rileyi''.

Species

''Batodonoides powayensis''

''Batodonoides powayensis'' is based on the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

UCMP The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is a paleontology museum located on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. The museum is within the Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB), designed by George W. Kelham a ...

V-96459, and was a ground dwelling insectivore. This species is younger than its counterpart, ''B. vanhouteni'', existing between approximately . It is based on fossilised remains recovered from California, USA.''Batodonoides''
at the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

''Batodonoides 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

Epoch in North America. ''Batodonoides vanhouteni'', described in 1998 by Bloch and colleagues, is the oldest species, and was discovered in

Wasatchian The Wasatchian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 55,400,000 to 50,300,000 years Before Present, BP lasting . I ...

deposits in Wyoming, USA. It is based on a juvenile specimen, consisting of a mandible and some teeth.

References

Prehistoric Eulipotyphla Fossil taxa described in 1976 Fossil taxa described in 1998 Extinct mammals of North America Eocene life Prehistoric placental genera {{paleo-eulipotyphla-stub