Palaeosinopa
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Palaeosinopa ("ancient Sinopa") is an extinct genus of semi-aquatic mammals belonging to the subfamily Pantolestinae within family Pantolestidae. Species in this genus lived from the late Paleocene to early Eocene in North America and Europe. Their diet consisted of other aquatic life forms.
| Palaeosinopa | |
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| reconstruction of Palaeosinopa didelphoides | |
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| fossil of Palaeosinopa didelphoides with fossils of fish species Knightia alta from Wyoming | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | †Pantolesta |
| Family: | †Pantolestidae |
| Subfamily: | †Pantolestinae |
| Genus: | †Palaeosinopa Matthew, 1901[1] |
| Type species | |
| †Palaeosinopa didelphoides Cope, 1881 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms[12] | |
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synonyms of species:
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Description
Palaeosinopa was a medium-sized, semi-aquatic mammal structurally convergent with modern otters. Based on an exceptionally complete, articulated skeleton discovered in the Eocene-aged Green River Formation of Wyoming, P.didelphoides measured approximately 1 meter (3.3 ft) in total length from the snout to the tip of the tail and is estimated to have weighed roughly 5 kilograms (11 lbs).