''Cedaromys'' ("Cedar mouse") is an extinct mammal which lived during the Upper

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

, at the same time as many

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s. It was a member of the also extinct order of

Multituberculata Multituberculata (commonly known as multituberculates, named for the multiple tubercles of their teeth) is an extinct order of rodent-like mammals with a fossil record spanning over 130 million years. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, ...

. It's within the suborder of

Cimolodonta Cimolodonta is a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their eco ...

, and a possible member of the Paracimexomys group.

Species

The species ''Cedaromys bestia'' was originally named '' Paracimexomys bestia'' in 1991,J. G. Eaton and M. E. Nelson. 1991. Multituberculate mammals from the Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation, San Rafael Swell, Utah. Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming 29(1):1-12 but later reassigned to ''Cedaromys'' by Eaton and Cifelli in 2001. Fossils have been found in Albian (late) - Cenomanian (early), (both Upper Cretaceous)-aged

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 e ...

of the Cedar Mountain Formation in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

(United States). Fossils of the species ''Cedaromys parvus'' (Eaton & Cifelli, 2001) have been found in strata of the same age in the Cedar Mountain Formation. This species is also in the Oklahoma collection. Suggested bodyweight is around 90 g.

References

* Eaton & 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. * Eaton, J.G. (2009). Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) mammals from Cedar Canyon, southwestern Utah, and a revision of Cenomanian Alphadon-like marsupials; pp. 97–110 in Albright, L.B.I. (ed.), Papers on Geology, Vertebrate Paleontology, and Biostratigraphy in Honor of Michael O. Woodburne. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 65. Late Cretaceous mammals of North America Cimolodonts Extinct mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera {{cretaceous-mammal-stub