''Xanclomys'' is a small mammal from the

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

of North America. It was a

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 ...

within the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder

Cimolodonta Cimolodonta is a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their eco ...

and family Neoplagiaulacidae. The genus ''Xanclomys'', named by Rigby J.K. in 1980, is also known as ''Xancolomys''. The identification is based on a single species, ''Xanclomys mcgrewi''.

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 preserved ...

remains were found in the Torrejonian (Paleocene)-age

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

of the Swain Quarry in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

( U.S.). Affinities are uncertain. There's perhaps a second, unnamed species.

References

* Rigby (1980), Swain Quarry of the Fort Union Formation, Middle Paleocene (Torrejonian), Carbon County, Wyoming: geologic setting and mammalian fauna. Evolutionary Monographs, 3, vi+179pp. * Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), "Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals". ''Paleontology'' 44, p. 389-429. * Much of this information has been derived fro

MESOZOIC MAMMALS: Ptilodontoidea, an Internet directory. {{Taxonbar, from=Q4779586 Ptilodontoids Paleocene mammals Paleocene genus extinctions Paleocene mammals of North America Prehistoric mammal genera