Micromomyidae

Micromomyidae
Temporal range: 56.8–50.3 Ma[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Plesiadapiformes
Family: †Micromomyidae
Szalay, 1974
Genera[2]

Micromomyidae (Micromomids) is a family of extinct plesiadapiform mammals that include some of the earliest known primates.[3][4] The family includes five genera[5] that lived from the Paleocene epoch into the early Eocene epoch.[4]

Micromomyids first appeared in the fossil record between 61.7 and 56.8 million years ago with the Micromomys genus. All but one specimen has been discovered in modern-day inland North America, more specifically in Wyoming, Alberta, and Saskatchewan,[5][6] with one unlabeled Eocene species found in Shandong, China.[6]

Like other known Plesiadapiformes, it appears that the micromomyids were small, tree-dwelling insectivores.[4][5][7] They are thought to be some of the smallest of their order, with estimates for some species around 10-40g,[4][7] or one-third to one and a half ounces, in weight.

  1. ^ "Fossilworks: Micromomyidae". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Fossilworks: Micromomyidae". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Genus †Micromomys - Hierarchy - The Taxonomicon". taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  4. ^ a b c d Chester, Stephen G.B.; Bloch, Jonathan I. (August 2013). "Systematics of Paleogene Micromomyidae (Euarchonta, Primates) from North America". Journal of Human Evolution. 65 (2): 109–142. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.04.006. PMID 23850536.
  5. ^ a b c "Fossilworks: Micromomyidae". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2019-12-07.
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Jonathan I.; Silcox, Mary T.; Boyer, Doug M.; Sargis, Eric J. (2007-01-23). "New Paleocene skeletons and the relationship of plesiadapiforms to crown-clade primates". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (4): 1159–1164. doi:10.1073/pnas.0610579104. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1783133. PMID 17229835.