Parectypodus is a genus of extinct mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 that lived from the Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

 to the Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Some of the known fossil material may also be from the Upper Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

. It was named by G.L. Jepsen in 1930.

It was a member of the extinct order of Multituberculata

Multituberculata

The Multituberculata were a group of rodent-like mammals that existed for approximately one hundred and twenty million years—the longest fossil history of any mammal lineage—but were eventually outcompeted by rodents, becoming extinct during the early Oligocene. At least 200 species are...

, and it lies within the suborder of Cimolodonta

Cimolodonta

The Cimolodonta are a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ecological niche was assumed by true rodents...

, family Neoplagiaulacidae

Neoplagiaulacidae

Neoplagiaulacidae is a family of mammal within the extinct order Multituberculata. Fossil remains are known from the Upper Cretaceous through the Eocene. Representatives have been found in North America, Europe and Asia....

. The genus has also been known as Mimetodon

Mimetodon

Mimetodon is a small mammal from the Paleocene of North America and perhaps Europe. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and family Neoplagiaulacidae....

(partly); Neoplagiaulax

Neoplagiaulax

Neoplagiaulax is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of Europe and North America. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper Cretaceous material too. It existed in the age immediately following the extinction of the last dinosaurs...

(partly); Parectypodus; Perectypodus; and Ptilodus

Ptilodus

Ptilodus is a genus of mammals from the extinct order of Multituberculata, and lived during the Paleocene in North America.Ptilodus was a relatively large multituberculate of in length, which is about the same size as a squirrel...

(partly). P. Jepseni is a junior synonym for Stygimys

Stygimys

Stygimys is an extinct mammal genus from the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene of North America. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta, family Eucosmodontidae....

 Jepseni.

Species

Species: Parectypodus armstrongi (Johnston PA & Fox RC 1984)

Place: Puercan (Paleocene) of Rav W-1, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. This specimen resides in the collection of the University of Alberta

University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...

.

Species: Parectypodus foxi (Storer J.E. 1991). This Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous)-age species is estimated to have weighed about 80 g.

Species: Parectypodus laytoni (Jepsen G.L., 1940; Sloan R.E., 1966), also known as Ectypodus laytoni (Jepsen 1940). Remains are known from the Lower Tiffanian (Middle-Upper Paleocene) Princeton Quarry of Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 (USA). This species has been cited as a descendant of P. sinclairi. It is a small species, having a weight of perhaps 10 g.

Species: Parectypodus lunatus (Krause DW, 1982), also known as P. childei (Kühne, 1969).

Place: Wasatchian (Lower Eocene) Pocket Quarry of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and Wyoming. This is a late species, having a weight of about 35 g.

Species: Parectypodus sinclairi (Lamb 1902; Clemens 1964a)

Aka: Ectypodus sinclairi (Simpson 1935); Ptilodus sinclairi (Simpson 1935d)

Place: Puercan-Torrejonian (Paleocene) Gidley Quarry of Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, Wyoming and Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada. This species has been cited as having derived from Mesodma formosa. It is a smaller species of about 15 g, which might also go under the name of Liotomus sinclairi.

Species: Parectypodus sloani (Schiebout J.A. 1974)

Aka: Ectypodus sloani. Fossils of this species have been found in the Torrejonian (Paleocene)-age beds of Big Bend, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

Species: Parectypodus sylviae (Rigby J.K. 1980; Sloan 1987)

Aka: Ectypodus sylviae (Rigby 1980); ?Ectypodus aphronorus (Sloan 1987); and P. Pattersoni (Sloan 1987). Remains are known from the Torrejonian (Paleocene)-age Swain Quarry of Montana and Wyoming. The body weight of this species has been estimated as 15 g. In 1998, Secord synonymized pattersoni with sylviae.

Species: Parectypodus trovessartianus (Cope E.D. 1882; Van Valen & Sloan 1966)

Aka: Mimetodon trouessartianus Jepsen, 1940; Neoplagiaulax

Neoplagiaulax

Neoplagiaulax is a mammal genus from the Paleocene of Europe and North America. In the case of the latter continent, there may possibly be some slightly earlier, Upper Cretaceous material too. It existed in the age immediately following the extinction of the last dinosaurs...

trouessarti; "P. trouessarti"; Ptilodus trouessarti; and Ptilodus trouessartianus (Cope 1882).

Place: Puercan-Torrejonian (Paleocene) San Juan Basin of New Mexico. The body mass of this species has been estimated to have been around 90 g.