Paramys
Extinct genus of rodents
Paramys is an extinct genus of rodents from North America, Europe, and Asia. It is one of the oldest genera of rodents known and probably lived in trees. While the genus name literally means "near a mouse", it coexisted with Thisbemys, a similar rodent, thus yielding a reference to Pyramus and Thisbe.
01Description
The brain of both the Early Eocene P. copei and the Middle Eocene P. delicatus was characterised by a lower neocortical surface area, smaller paraflocculi, and larger olfactory bulbs relative to total endocranial volume of later rodents, and they both possessed encephalisation quotients higher than that of Ischyromys typus.
02Palaeobiology
P. delicatus possessed more robust limbs and could apply a greater mechanical advantage using its limbs relative to most living squirrels, including living semi-fossorial squirrels. This suggests that it was a semi-fossorial animal that was adapted for scratch-digging.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Paramys”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Paramys delicatus Leidy 1.jpg by https://www.si.edu/object/paramys-delicatus-leidy:nmnhpaleobiology_3383481, CC0
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