Apatemys Temporal range: Paleogene
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Apatotheria |
Family: | †Apatemyidae |
Genus: | †Apatemys Marsh, 1872 |
Species | |
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Apatemys is a member of the family Apatemyidae, an extinct group of small and insectivorous placental mammals that lived in the Paleogene of North America, India, and Europe. While the number of genera and species is less agreed upon, it has been determined that two apatemyid genera, Apatemys and Sinclairella, existed sequentially during the Eocene in North America. The genus Apatemys, living as far back as 50.3 million years ago (mya), existed through part of the Wasatchian and persisted through the Duchesnean, and Sinclairella followed, existing from the Duchesnean through the Arikareean.[1] Examinations of specimens belonging to the genus Apatemys suggest adaptations characteristic of arboreal mammals.[2]