| Bisonalveus Temporal range: Early to Middle Tiffanian
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|---|---|
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| Mandibula of Bisonalveus browni | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Cimolesta |
| Family: | †Pantolestidae |
| Subfamily: | †Pentacodontinae |
| Genus: | †Bisonalveus |
| Species | |
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Bisonalveus is an extinct genus of shrew-like[1] mammals that were presumably ground-dwelling and fed on plants and insects.[2] Bisonalveus fossils have been discovered in the upper Great Plains region of North America,[3] including sites in modern-day Wyoming,[2][4] North Dakota,[2] Montana,[2] and Alberta.[5] The fossils have been dated to 60 million years ago, during the Tiffanian North American Stage of the Palaeocene epoch.[1][2][6] Bisonalveus is the last known genus of the Pentacodontinae sub-family to have arisen, replacing the genus Coriphagus in the early Tiffanian.[2][6] Bisonalveus itself appears to have gone extinct by the middle Tiffanian.[2]
Bisonalveus is represented by two known species: B. browni (Gazin, 1956) and B. holtzmani (Gingerich, 1983).[2][4][6]
- ^ a b Roach, John (22 June 2005). "Extinct Mammal Had Venomous Bite, Fossils Suggest". National Geographic News. The National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on June 25, 2005. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gingerich, Phillip D. (31 December 1983). "New Adapisoricidae, Pentacodontidae, and Hyopsodontidae (Mammalia, Insectivora and Condylarthra) from the Late Paleocene of Wyoming and Colorado" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology. 26 (11): 227–255. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ Fulwood, Ethan (7 May 2015). "OBSCURE EUTHERIANS OF THE PALEOCENE: Pentacodontids". Of Omomys and Men. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ a b Gazin, Charles Lewis (28 February 1956). "Paleocene mammalian faunas of the Bison basin in south-central Wyoming" (PDF). Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections. 131 (6): 1–57. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- ^ Fox, Richard C.; Scott, Craig S. (23 June 2005). "First evidence of a venom delivery apparatus in extinct mammals". Nature. 435 (7045): 1091–1093. Bibcode:2005Natur.435.1091F. doi:10.1038/nature03646. PMID 15973406. S2CID 4322624.
- ^ a b c Gunnell, Gregg F.; Bown, Thomas; Bloch, Jonathan Ivan; Boyer, Doug M. "Proteutheria". Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America Volume 2: Small Mammals, Xenarthrans, and Marine Mammals (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–81. Retrieved 4 August 2015.