''Neoplagiaulax'' is a

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

from the

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

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 ...

. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

material too. It existed in the age immediately following the

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

ion of the last

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

s. This animal was a member of the extinct order

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

, lying within the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

Cimolodonta Cimolodonta is a clade of Multituberculata, multituberculate mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ecological niche was assumed by true rodents. The more basal ...

and family

Neoplagiaulacidae Neoplagiaulacidae is a family of mammal within the extinct order Multituberculata. Fossil remains are known from the Upper Cretaceous through to the latest Eocene/early Oligocene. Representatives have been found in North America, Europe and Asia. ...

. The genus ''Neoplagiaulax'' ("new '' Plagiaulax''") was named by Lemoine V. in 1882.

Species

*''Neoplagiaulax annae'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) has been found in

strata In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of Rock (geology), rock or sediment characterized by certain Lithology, lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by v ...

of Cernay,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. *''?Neoplagiaulax burgessi'' (Archibald J.D. 1982) has been found in

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age (uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage) of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or Upper Cretaceous series (s ...

(Upper Cretaceous) strata of

Hell Creek The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions o ...

, USA. *''Neoplagiaulax copei'' (Lemoine V. 1885) has been found in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France. It has been cited as a possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. *''Neoplagiaulax donaldorum'' (Scott C.S., Krause D.W. 2006) found in early Tiffanian (late Paleocene) strata in eastern Crazy Mountains,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

*''Neoplagiaulax eocaenus'' (Lemoine V. 1880)is also known as ''N. eocänus'' and ''Plagiaulax eocaenus''. It was found in Upper Paleocene of Cernay, France. It has also been cited as a possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. *''Neoplagiaulax grangeri'' (Simpson G.G. 1935) (Gazin, 1969) is also known as ''Ectypodus? grangeri'' (Simpson, 1935). It was found in Torrejonian (Paleocene) of Gidley Quarry,

(USA). It was a further possible descendant of ''N. hazeni''. Its weight was around 100 g, a quarter of that of a standard rat. *''Neoplagiaulax hazeni'' (Jepsen G.L. 1940; Krause D.W. 1977) is also known as ''Ectypodus hazeni'' (Jepsen G.L. 1940) and ''N. fractus'' (partially). It is known from the

Tiffanian The Tiffanian 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 60,200,000 to 56,800,000 years BP lasting . It is usually co ...

(Middle-Upper Paleocene) of Princeton Quarry,

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

and

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

(USA). Its body weight has been estimated at 95 g. Further material, including the type fossil, can be visited at the

Peabody Museum of Natural History The Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale University (also known as the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History or the Yale Peabody Museum) is one of the oldest, largest, and most prolific university natural history museums in the world. It ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. *''Neoplagiaulax hunteri'' (Simpson G.G. 1936), (Krause DW, 1977) is also known as ''Ectypodus hunteri'' (Simpson, 1936).It was discovered in Torrejonian-Tiffanian (Middle Paleocene) strata of Scarritt Quarry in Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota and

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. Several specimens are at the Peabody Museum of Yale, where the name ''E.'' is sometimes employed. It likely weighed about 45 g. *''Neoliotomus jepi'' (Sloan R.E. 1987) is known from the Tiffanian (Paleocene) of Cedar Point Quarry, Wyoming (USA). *''Neoplagiaulax kremnus'' (Johnston P.A. and Fox R.C. 1984) was found in Puercan (Lower Paleocene) strata of Rav W-1 in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. The holotype is in the collection of the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. *''Neoplagiaulax macintyrei'' (Sloan R.E. 1981) was found in Puercan (Lower Paleocene)

San Juan Basin The San Juan Basin is a geologic structural basin located near the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States. The basin covers 7,500 square miles and resides in northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, and parts of Utah a ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

(USA). *''Neoliotomus macrotomeus'' (Wilson 1956; Sloan 1987) is also known as ''Ectypodus macrotomeus'' (Wilson 1956. It was found in Puercan-Torrejonian (Lower Paleocene) strata of the San Juan Basin of New Mexico (USA). It is possibly derived from '' Mesodma formosa''. It weighed about 15 g. *''Neoplagiaulax mckennai'' (Sloan R.E. 1987)is also known as ''N. mckennaiai''. It was found in Tiffanian (Middle-Upper Paleocene) strata of Love Quarry in Wyoming and North Dakota. It weighed an estimated 60 g. *''Neoplagiaulax nelsoni'' (Sloan R.E. 1987)was discovered in the Puercan-Torrejonian (Middle-Upper Paleocene) strata of Wyoming and Purgatory Hill of Montana and Alberta. The type fossil is from Keefer Hill (a.k.a. Shotgun) Wyoming. This species was

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

-sized, weighing about 25 g. *''Neoplagiaulax nicolai'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) was discovered in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France. *''Neoplagiaulax sylvani'' (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) was found in Paleocene strata of Cernay, France.

References

* Lemoine (1885), "Étude sur quelqes mammifères de petite taille de la faune cernaysienne des environs de Reims." ''Bull. Soc. Géol. France'' 3, p. 203-217, pls. x-xii. * Archibald (1982), "A study of Mammalia and Geology across the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in Garfield County, Montana." ''University of California Publications in Geological Sciences,'' vol. 122, p. 242-243. * Simpson (1935), "New Paleocene mammals from the Fort Union of Montana." ''Proc. US Nation. Museum'' 83, p. 221-244. * Jepsen (1940), "Paleocene faunas of the Polecat Bench formation, Park County, Wyoming." ''Pro. Amer. Philos. Soc'', 83, p. 217-340, 21 figs., 5p ls. * Krause (1977), "Paleocene multituberculates (Mammalia) of the Roche Percee Local Fauna, Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada." ''Palaeontographica Abt. A 159'', p. 1-36. * Johnston & Fox (1984), Paleocene and Late Cretaceous mammals from Skaksatchewan, Canada. Paleontogr. Abt. A: Paläozool., Stratigr. 186, p. 163-222. * Sloan (1981), "Systematics of Paleocene multituberculates from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico," p. 127-160, in Lucas et al. (eds), "Advances in San Juan Basin paleontology." University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals." ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Vianey-Liaud (1986), Les Multituberculés Thanétiens de France, et leurs rapports avec les Multituberculés Nord-Américains. Palaeontogr. Abt. A: Paläozool. Stratigr. 191 p. 85-171, 3 plates. {{Taxonbar, from=Q6993693 Ptilodontoidea Late Cretaceous mammals of North America Paleocene mammals of Europe Paleocene mammals of North America Paleocene genus extinctions Prehistoric mammal genera