Catopsalis is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of North America (specifically what is now Canada and the United States). This animal was a relatively large member of the extinct order of Multituberculata. Most multituberculates were much smaller.
At 1 time, the genus was also formally reported from the upper Cretaceous of Mongolia. However, that material was subsequently referred to the genera of Djadochtatherium and Catopsbaatar. Catopsalis is within the suborder of Cimolodonta and a member of the superfamily Taeniolabidoidea.
Recent research suggests that "Catopsalis" is actually a paraphyletic assemblage, and 1 species, C. joyneri, has been moved to its own genus, Valenopsalis.
It was among the largest of the multituberculates, living directly after the K-Pg Mass Extinction that wiped-out the non-avian dinosaurs and the beginning of a mammal-dominated Earth.
Books[]
The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park: The Lost World[]
Catopsalis appears in the chapter Alongside Dinosaurs, along with Megazostrodon as examples of mammals that coexisted with the dinosaurs.[1] This is inaccurate, as Catopsalis lived during the Paleocene epoch, directly after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
However, it is stated in the book as living in Mongolia during the Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago.[1] This is because, at the time of the book's publication, the Mongolian fossil specimens were attributed to the genus Catopsalis. Subsequent research has since referred these specimens to the new genera Djadochtatherium and Catopsbaatar.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Alongside Dinosaurs, pg. 39
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[[Category:Synapsids of North America