''Prionessus'' is a

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 ...

of extinct

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 ...

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), ...

of what is now Central

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. It 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 ...

within the suborder

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 superfamily

Taeniolabidoidea Taeniolabidoidea is a group of extinct mammals known whose fossils can be found in North America and Asia. They were the largest members of the extinct order Multituberculata, as well as the largest non-therian mammals. '' Lambdopsalis'' even pr ...

. The genus was named by

William Diller Matthew William Diller Matthew FRS (February 19, 1871 – September 24, 1930) was a vertebrate paleontologist who worked primarily on mammal fossils, although he also published a few early papers on mineralogy, petrological geology, one on botany, one on ...

and Walter Granger in 1925, and is based on a single species ''P.lucifer''. Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum believe that members of the Taeniolabidoidea, such as ''Prionessus'', are all quite similar. For example, they all share a short wide snout and a blocky head so it is probably instructive to look at a close and more commonly occurring relative, ''

Lambdopsalis bulla ''Lambdopsalis'' is an extinct multituberculate mammal from the Late Paleocene of China and Mongolia. It is placed within the suborder Cimolodonta and is a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. Fossil remains have been found in the Late Pa ...

'', a likely burrower. Matthew and Granger noted in their discovery that ''P.lucifer'' had a robust lower incisor, supportive of this similarity.

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

remains have been found in the Late Paleocene Nomogen and Khashat Formations of Gashato, Naran and Nomogen in Bayan Ulan of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. ''Prionessus'' fossils range from 59-55 million years ago, through the

Thanetian The Thanetian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Serie ...

age of the late Paleocene. They were estimated to have had a body mass of about .Wilson et al 2012, Supplemental Tables 3 and 5

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q509731 Cimolodonta Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Paleogene mammals of Asia Prehistoric mammal genera