''Paranisolambda'' is an extinct genus of proterotheriid

litopterns Litopterna (from "smooth heel") is an extinction, extinct order of South American native ungulates that lived from the Paleocene to the Pleistocene-Holocene around 62.5 million to 12,000 years ago (or possibly as late as 3,500 years ago), and we ...

from the Early to Middle Eocene of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Fossils of ''Paranisolambda'' have been recovered from the

Itaboraí Formation The Itaboraí Formation () is a highly list of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Brazil, fossiliferous geologic Formation (geology), formation and LagerstätteKellner & Campos, 1999, p.399 of the Itaboraí Basin in Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio d ...

in the Brazilian state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Etymology

The genus name, ''Paranisolambda'', is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''para''/παρα meaning "beside" or "near", and its close relative ''Anisolambda'', the genus it was originally assigned to. The specific name, "prodromus" is derived from the Greek word ''prodromos'', meaning "forerunner".

History

The first remains of ''Paranisolambda'' were found in the Sāo José De Itaboraí Basin in 1948, consisting of the right mandible of a young individual as the holotype.

Taxonomy

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113946305 Proterotheriids Eocene mammals of South America Casamayoran Itaboraian Riochican Paleogene Brazil Fossils of Brazil Fossil taxa described in 1983 Prehistoric placental genera