Caecocricetodon
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| Caecocricetodon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Cricetidae |
| Genus: | †Caecocricetodon |
| Species: | †C. yani |
| Binomial name | |
| †Caecocricetodon yani Lu et. al., 2021 | |
Caecocricetodon is an extinct genus of the cricetid that lived during the Rupelian stage of the Oligocene epoch. The genus is known from fossil material recovered from the Caijiachong Formation in China, near the village of Caijiachong in Qujing County. It contains a single species, Caecocricetodon yani, described in 2021.
Etymology
Caecocricetodon was described by Xiao-Yu Lu, Xijun Ni, and Olivier Maridet in 2021 based on dental and cranial material. Phylogenetic analysis places it within the subfamily Paracricetodontinae, forming a monophyletic clade with Paracricetodon and Trakymys.[1]
The genus name is derived from Latin caecus ("blind" or "obscure") and the genus Cricetodon, referring to the obscured molar morphology. The species epithet yani honors Zhou-Liang Yan for his assistance in fieldwork.[1]