Notopithecus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Notopithecus Temporal range: Middle-Late Eocene ~ | |
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| Skull of Notopithecus adapinus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Notoungulata |
| Family: | †Interatheriidae |
| Genus: | †Notopithecus Ameghino, 1887 |
| Type species | |
| †Notopithecus adapinus Ameghino, 1887 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
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Notopithecus is an extinct genus of Notoungulate, belonging to the suborder Typotheria. It lived from the Middle to the Late Eocene and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.
Skull
This animal is known from numerous fossils, sufficiently complete to reconstruct the general appearance of the creature. It was superficially similar to a modern prairie dog, or a slender marmot. Its body was approximately 30–40 centimeters long, excluding the tail.
The skull was short, broad, and high; the temporal region and the tympanic bulla were enlarged. The dentition was complete, with incisor-shaped canines and without diastema. The premolars and molars were low-crowned (brachydont). The first upper incisor was well developed, and the first upper premolar was incisor-shaped. The other upper premolars were triangular in section and had a deep central dimple. The lower premolars were progressively more complex towards the posterior part of the mandible. The lower molars had a short anterior lobe and a posterior lobe with a well-developed entoconid.
Postcranial skeleton
Notopithecus had an agile and lithe body, with a long tail and four strong but slender limbs, allowing this animal to move rather quickly. The calcaneus had a rather short neck and the talus was characterized by a trapezoidal and asymmetrical trochlea, similar to Trachytherus, with a concave and smooth articular surface. Notopithecus also had a notable talar foramen, making its tarsus quite similar to other more specialized Typotheres, but still recalling in some way basal and archaic notoungulates, such as Colbertia, notably with the well-developed fibular tubercle of the calcaneus, in the lack of talar-cuboid contact and in the presence of a talar foramen.[1]
