| Catopsalis | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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| Species | ||||||||||||
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C. alexanderi C. calgariensis C. collariensis C. fissidens C. foliatus C. joyneri C. waddleae | ||||||||||||
| Ref. |
Catopsalis is a North American mammal genus from the Paleocene of North America, (though some Canadian finds may be Upper Cretaceous). This animal was a relatively large member of the extinct order of Multituberculata. (As a rough guide to size, I'm using the following highly specialized terms of my own concoction; heavyweight, super-heavyweight, sumo-heavyweight and sumo-super-heavyweight = up to 30kg.) Most multituberculates were much smaller.
The genus was formally reported from the Upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. However, that material was subsequently referred to the genera of Djadochtatherium and Catopsbaatar.
For those of a technical inclination, Catopsalis is within the Suborder of Cimolodonta, and a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.
Genus: Catopsalis Cope ED, 1882
Aka: Polymastodon (partly)
Species: Catopsalis alexanderi Middleton MD, 1982
Place: Littleton Local Fauna, Colorado, Montana & Wyoming
Country: USA
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: Some material of this genus was previously assigned to C. foliatus and C. joyneri. Specimens are included in the collections of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and the Peabody Museum of Yale. This species was a heavyweight for a multituberculate.
Reference: Middleton (1982), A new species and additional material of Catopsalis (Mammalia, Multituberculata) from the western interior of North Am. J. Paleontol. 56, p.1197-1206.
Species: Catopsalis calgariensis Russell LS, 1926
Place: Alberta & Wyoming
Country: Canada & USA
Age: Torrejonian? - Tiffanian?, Paleocene
Remarks: The holotype, collected in 1924, is in the collection of Alberta University. Further material is in the possession of Wyoming University. Sumo-heavyweight.
Reference: Russell (1926), A new species of the genus Catopsalis Cope from the Paskapoo formation of Alberta. Amer. Jour. Sci. 5, p.230-234, fig. 1.
Species: Catopsalis collariensis
Place: Red Deer River
Country: Canada
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: The type fossil is listed as an employee at the AMNH, New York.
Reference:
Species: Catopsalis fissidens Cope ED, 1884
Aka: C. utahensis Gazin CL, 1939; Polymastodon fissidens Cope, 1884
Place: San Juan Basin, New Mexico & Utah
Country: USA
Age: Torrejonian, Paleocene
Remarks: The University of Wyoming boasts a possible specimen. Super-heavyweight.
Reference: Gazin (1939), A further contribution to the Dragon Paleocene fauna of central Utah. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 29, p.273-286, 10 figs.
Species: Catopsalis foliatus Cope ED, 1882
Aka: C. johnstoni Fox RC, 1989; Polymastodon foliatus Cope, 1884
Place: San Juan Basin, New Mexico & Ravenscrag Formation
Country: USA & Canada
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: C. johnstoni, from Saskatchewan, is also in the Alberta collection. Heavyweight.
Reference: Fox (1989), The Wounded Knee local fauna and mammalian evolution near the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Saskatchewan, Canada. Palaeontogr. Abt. A: Paläozool., Stratigr. 208, p.11-59 + 6 plates.
Species: Catopsalis joyneri Sloan RE & Van Valen L, 1965
Place: Bug Creek Anthills, Montana & Wyoming & Saskatchewan
Country: USA & Canada
Age: Upper Cretaceous? - Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: One tooth studies at Wyoming and is Puercan. The Montana material is now thought to be Paleocene, though the Canadian site, (Cypress Hill region), is considered Upper Cretaceous.
Reference:
Species: Catopsalis waddleae Buckley GA, 1995
Place: Simpson Quarry, Montana
Country: USA
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: Sumo-heavyweight.
Reference:
Page reference: Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals. Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
(This information has been derived from [1] MESOZOIC MAMMALS; Eucosmodontidae, Microcosmodontidae and Taeniolabidoidea, an internet directory. As that's my webpage, there are no issues of copyright. Trevor Dykes)