''Ectoconus'' (Greek: "outside" (ektos), "cone" (konos)) is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivorous

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 ...

of the family Periptychidae, endemic to North America during the

Early Paleocene The Danian is the oldest age or lowest stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series, of the Paleogene Period or System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginning of the Danian (and the end of the preceding Maastrichtian) is at the Cret ...

subepochs (66—63.3

mya Mya may refer to: Brands and product names * Mya (program), an intelligent personal assistant created by Motorola * Mya (TV channel), an Italian Television channel * Midwest Young Artists, a comprehensive youth music program Codes * Burmese ...

) existing for approximately .PaleoBiology Database: ''Bathygenys'', basic info
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Taxonomy

''Ectoconus'' was stoutly built, sheep-sized

condylarth Condylarthra is an informal group – previously considered an order – of extinct placental mammals, known primarily from the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. They are considered early, primitive ungulates. It is now largely considered to be a wast ...

and had a small

braincase In human anatomy, the neurocranium, also known as the braincase, brainpan, or brain-pan is the upper and back part of the skull, which forms a protective case around the brain. In the human skull, the neurocranium includes the calvaria or skul ...

, short, strong limbs and a heavy tail. Its feet had five hooved digits much in the manner of extremely primitive

ungulates Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...

. It was named by

Cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

(1884) and was synonymized subjectively with ''Conoryctes'' by Cope (1885). It was assigned to Periptychidae by Cope (1884), Cope (1888), Osborn and Earle (1895), Matthew (1937) and Carroll (1988); and to Periptychinae by Archibald (1998) and Eberle (2003). Nearly complete skeletons of ''Ectoconus'' have been found in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

and it is one of the most completely known Paleocene mammals.

References

Condylarths Paleocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1884 Prehistoric placental genera Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{paleo-mammal-stub