Chriacus pelvidens (Cope 1884). Bridgerian (Palaeocene) ~48 mya is known from too few parts to accurately nest. Here it nests best with the extant water opossum, Chironectes. With three molars and fewer than four incisors.
The anterior teeth of Chriacus angled anteriorly. Chriacus was considered an omnivore, eating insects, fruit, meat. The cervicals were smaller with high neural spines. The limbs were all longer and the torso shorter. The wrist and ankle were highly mobile, permitting hind foot reversal as in squirrels and bats.
Van Valen (1971) nested Chriacus close to the base of the artiodactyls, or hooved mammals, because the two taxa share a similar tooth pattern. Rose (1987) considered Chriacus to be arboreal. This appears to be a novel hypothesis of interrelationships. |
