Ptilocercus

Ptilocercus; Temporal range: 34–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early Oligocene - Present
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Scandentia
Family:	Ptilocercidae; Lyon, 1913
Genus:	Ptilocercus; Gray, 1848
Type species
	Ptilocercus lowii; Gray, 1848
Species
	Ptilocercus lowii; †;

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.

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[1] 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.

[2] "Earliest-known treeshrew fossil found in Yunnan, China". Phys.org.

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