Purgatorius

Purgatorius
	Purgatorius , speculative reconstruction.
Temporal occurrence
	Paleocene
	65 to 56.8 million years
Locations
	Hell Creek Formation ( Montana ); Saskatchewan;
Systematics
	Higher mammals (Eutheria)
	Euarchontoglires
	Euarchonta
	Primatomorpha
	Plesiadapiformes
	Purgatorius
Scientific name
	Purgatorius
	Van Valen & Sloan , 1965
species
	Purgatorius unio Van Valen & Sloan , 1965; Purgatorius ceratops Van Valen & Sloan , 1965; Purgatorius janisae Van Valen , 1994; Purgatorius titusi Buckley , 1997;

Purgatorius is an extinct genus of mammals, which is considered the earliest form of a primate or pre-primate and was a primate-like forerunner of the Plesiadapiformes . Remains of Purgatorius , mostly teeth and jaw fragments, were foundin the Hell Creek Formation in eastern Montana , and in Saskatchewan . The genus was named after Purgatory Hill.

features

Teeth and jaw fragments are tiny, suggesting a very small animal weighing a little more than 20 grams. The teeth are bunodont (tooth crowns with cusps) and have a right-angled contour. This suggests a frugivor-omnivorous diet (fruit and omnivores).

The tooth formula was . ${\ displaystyle {3 \ times 1 \ times 4 \ times 3 \ over 3 \ times 1 \ times 4 \ times 3}}$

Fossil heels legs and ankle bone , the purgatorius were attributed characteristics exhibit that have been interpreted as evidence for an arboreal lifestyle.

Systematics

Purgatorius is viewed as a basal euarchont , a clade of giant gliders , shrews and primates, or as the oldest representative of the Plesiadapiformes , an extinct mammal order closely related to primates. The genus was in 1965 by Leigh Van Valen and Robert E. Sloan with the two types purgatorius unio and purgatorius ceratops described .

Four species are currently known within the genus:

Purgatorius unio Van Valen & Sloan , 1965
Purgatorius ceratops Van Valen & Sloan , 1965
Purgatorius janisae Van Valen , 1994
Purgatorius titusi Buckley , 1997

literature

Robert L. Carroll : Paleontology and Evolution of the Vertebrates. Thieme, Stuttgart et al. 1993, ISBN 3-13774-401-6 .
Thomas S. Kemp: The Origin & Evolution of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0198507615 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Carroll (1993), page 471.
↑ Stephen GB Chester et al .: Oldest known euarchontan tarsals and affinities of Paleocene Purgatorius to Primates. In: PNAS . Advance online publication of January 20, 2015, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1421707112

↑ Kemp (2005), page 375.

↑ Leigh Van Valen , Robert E. Sloan : The Earliest Primates. Science 150 (369705) November 1965; Pp. 743-745. doi : 10.1126 / science.150.3697.743 .

[Carroll-1] Carroll (1993), page 471.

[2] Stephen GB Chester et al .: Oldest known euarchontan tarsals and affinities of Paleocene Purgatorius to Primates. In: PNAS . Advance online publication of January 20, 2015, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1421707112

[3] Kemp (2005), page 375.

[4] Leigh Van Valen , Robert E. Sloan : The Earliest Primates. Science 150 (369705) November 1965; Pp. 743-745. doi : 10.1126 / science.150.3697.743 .