Prionessus lucifer

Prionessus is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of what is now Central Asia. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by William Diller Matthew and Walter Granger in 1925, and is based on a single species P.lucifer.

Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum believe that members of the Taeniolabidoidea, such as Prionessus, are all quite similar. For example, they all share a short wide snout and a blocky head so it is probably instructive to look at a close and more commonly occurring relative, Lambdopsalis bulla, a likely burrower. Matthew and Granger noted in their discovery that P.lucifer had a robust lower incisor, supportive of this similarity.