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T. lamberti T. taoensis | ||||||||||||
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Taeniolabis is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of North America. It is the largest known member of the extinct order, Multituberculata, reaching weights of perhaps 30 kilos.
For the technically minded, this animal is within the suborder of Cimolodonta, and a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.
Genus: Taeniolabis Cope ED, 1882
Aka: Catopsalis (partly).; Polymastodon (partly) Cope, 1882
Reference: Cope (1882), Mammalia in the Laramie Formation. American Naturalist, 16, p.830-831.
Species: Taeniolabis lamberti Simmons NB, 1987
Place: Tullock Formation, Montana
Country: USA
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: Not quite as large as T. taoensis, but still a hefty size for a multituberculate.
Reference: Simmons (1987), A revision of Taeniolabis (Mammalia: Multituberculata), with a new species from the Puercan of eastern Montana. J. of Paleont. 61(4), p.794-808.
Species: Taeniolabis taoensis (Cope ED, 1882)
Aka: Catopsalis pollux Cope, 1882b; Polymastodon attenuatus Cope, 1885; P. latimolis Cope, 1885; P. selenodus Osborn HF & Earle C, 1895; P. taoensis Cope, 1882; T. attetuatus; T. scalper Cope 1884; T. sulcatus Cope 1882a; T. triserialis Granger & Simpson, 1929
Place: Nacimiento Formation, New Mexico, Wyoming & Ravenscrag Formation, Saskatchewan
Country: USA & Canada
Age: Puercan, Paleocene
Remarks: Had a six inch long skull, (aka 16cm). Sumo-super-heavyweight. The largest known multi, this critter was as big as a beaver.
References: Cope (1882), A new genus of Taeniodonta. Amer. Naturalist xvi, p.604-605.
Osborn & Earle (1895), Fossil mammals of the Puerco beds. Collection of 1892. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. vii, p.1-70, with 21 figs.
Granger & Simpson (1929), A revision of the Tertiary Multituberculata. Bulletin Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 56, p.601-676, 43 figs.
Simons NB (1986), Taeniolabis Cope, 1882 (Mammalia, Multituberculata),: proposed designation of Polymastodon taoensis Cope, 1882 as type species. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 43(3), p.310-311.
Page reference: Kielan-Jaworowska Z & Hurum JH (2001), Phylogeny and Systematics of multituberculate mammals. Paleontology 44, p.389-429.
(This information is 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)