''Bryceomys'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
that lived during the late
Cretaceous period (between 100 and 66 million years ago) and thus shared the world with
dinosaurs. It was a member of the also extinct order of
Multituberculata. It was within the suborder of
Cimolodonta, and a member of the
Paracimexomys group.
The genus ''Bryceomys'' ("Bryce mouse", after
Bryce Canyon National Park) was named by Eaton J.G. in 1995.
Species
The species ''Bryceomys fumosus'' (Eaton 1995) is known from
fossils found in
strata
In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
dating to the Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) in the Straight Cliffs Formation of
Utah, US. They probably weighed about 12g, about half the weight of a house mouse. About a hundred teeth are held at the
Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, including the
holotype.
Species: ''Bryceomys hadrosus'' Eaton J.G. 1995
Place:
Straight Cliffs Formation of Utah
Age: Turonian (Upper Cretaceous)
Also in the Oklahoma collection. Suggested bodyweight is around 90 g.
Species: ''Bryceomys intermedius'' Eaton JG & Cifelli RL, 2001
Place:
Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah
Age: Albian (late) - Cenomanian (early) (Upper Cretaceous)
References
* Eaton (1995), "Cenomanian and Turonian (Early Late Cretaceous) multituberculate mammals from southwestern Utah". ''Journal of Vert Paleo'' 15(4), p. 761-784.
* Eaton and Cifelli (2001), "Multituberculate mammals from near the Early-Late Cretaceous boundary, Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah". ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' 46(4), p. 453-518
* Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4980732
Cimolodonts
Late Cretaceous mammals of North America
Fossil taxa described in 1995
Prehistoric mammal genera