Peradectes
Sign in to savePeradectes is an extinct genus of small metatherian mammals known from the latest Cretaceous to Eocene of North and South America and Europe. The first discovered fossil of P. elegans, was one of 15 Peradectes specimens described in 1921 from the Mason pocket fossil beds in Colorado. The monophyly of the genus has been questioned.
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Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Taxonomy and relationships
- Description
- Distribution
- Palaeoecology
- References
Peradectes is an extinct genus of small metatherian mammals known from the latest Cretaceous to Eocene of North and South America and Europe. The first discovered fossil of P. elegans, was one of 15 Peradectes specimens described in 1921 from the Mason pocket fossil beds in Colorado. The monophyly of the genus has been questioned.
==Etymology== The genus name is derived from the Greek for “pouch” (pera-) and “biter” (-dectes), indicating a marsupial thought to engage primarily in carnivory.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Peradectes” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.