Ptilocercus
Ptilocercus Early | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Scandentia |
Family: | Ptilocercidae Lyon, 1913 |
Genus: | Ptilocercus Gray, 1848 |
Type species | |
Ptilocercus lowii Gray, 1848
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Species | |
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Ptilocercus is a genus of treeshrew and the sole member of the family Ptilocercidae.
Today the genus (and family) is represented by a single species, the pen-tailed treeshrew (Ptilocercus lowii). However, this genus is very ancient and considered the most primitive of all the treeshrews. In 2016 a new species was described from China dated to the Early Oligocene about 34 million years ago. This species, , is so strikingly similar to the living species that it can be considered a sister taxa. This suggests that the Ptilocercidae have evolved little change over millions of years.[1][2]
References[]
- ^ Li, Q.; Ni, X. (2016). "An early Oligocene fossil demonstrates treeshrews are slowly evolving "living fossils"". Scientific Reports. 6. doi:10.1038/srep18627. PMC 4725336.
- ^ "Earliest-known treeshrew fossil found in Yunnan, China". Phys.org.
Categories:
- Mammal genera
- Mammal genera with one living species
- Taxa named by John Edward Gray
- Treeshrews
- Mammal stubs