''Paramys'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

s from North America,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

. It is one of the oldest genera of rodents known and probably lived in

trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

. While the

genus name Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

literally means "near a

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' ...

", it coexisted with ''Thisbemys'', a similar rodent, thus yielding a reference to

Pyramus and Thisbe Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their ...

References

* Matthew, W. D. 1910. On the osteology and relationships of ''Paramys'' and the affinities of the Ischyromyidae. ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'', 28:43–72. * Kenneth D. Rose, 2006. ''The Beginning of the Age of Mammals''. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore MD. pp. 306–335 * Kenneth D. Rose and Brenda J. Chinnery. The Postcranial Skeleton of Early Eocene Rodents. ''Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History''. Volume 36, Issue 1 (December 2004): pp. 211–244 * Tullberg, T. 1899. Ueber das System der Nagethiere. Eine Phylogenetische Studie. ''Nova Acta Regiae Soc. Scient Upsala'', ser. 3, vol. 18: v + 514 pp., 57 pls * Wodd A. E. 1962. The Early Tertiary rodents of the family Paramyidae. ''Transactions of the American Philosophical Society''. new series 52(1): 1–261. Cenozoic mammals of North America Prehistoric rodent genera Paleocene rodents Eocene rodents Cenozoic mammals of Europe Cenozoic mammals of Asia {{paleo-rodent-stub

References

Further reading