| Cimolestes | |
|---|---|
| |
| Lower jaw (LACM 152546) of C. stirtoni, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Cimolesta |
| Family: | †Cimolestidae Marsh, 1889 |
| Genus: | †Cimolestes Marsh, 1889 |
| Type species | |
| †Cimolestes incisus Marsh, 1889
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Nyssodon Simpson, 1927 | |
Cimolestes (from Ancient Greek Κιμο λέστες, 'chalk robber')[1] is a genus of early eutherians with a full complement of teeth adapted for eating insects and other small animals. Paleontologists have disagreed on its relationship to other mammals, in part because quite different animals were assigned to the genus, making Cimolestes a grade taxon of animals with similar features rather than a genus of closely related ones. Fossils have been found in North America, South America, Europe and Africa. Cimolestes first appeared during the Late Cretaceous of North America. According to some paleontologists, Cimolestes died out at the start of the Paleocene,[2] while others report the genus from the early Eocene.[3]
Most species have been described from teeth and isolated fragments. One complete articulated skeleton provisionally assigned to Cimolestes has been found. It shows a small, agile, tree-dwelling predator with long toes for grasping branches and a prehensile tail at least twice the length of its body. It has the largest number of tail vertebrae known in any mammal.[3]
- ^ "Cimolestes". p. 189. in Palmer, T. S. (23 January 1904). "Index Generum Mammalium: A List of the Genera and Families of Mammals". North American Fauna. 23: 1–984. doi:10.3996/nafa.23.0001.
- ^ McKenna, M. C.; S. K. Bell (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11012-9.
- ^ a b Grande, Lance (2013). The Lost World of Fossil Lake; Snapshots from Deep Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp. 260–263. ISBN 978-0-226-92296-6.