Conoryctes

Conoryctes Temporal range: 62.4–60.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Early to Middle Paleocene
skull of Conoryctes comma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia (?)
Order:	†Taeniodonta
Family:	†Conoryctidae
Subfamily:	†Conoryctinae
Tribe:	†Conoryctini
Genus:	†Conoryctes Cope, 1881[1]
Type species
†Conoryctes comma Cope, 1881[1]
Synonyms
synonyms of genus: Hexodon (Cope, 1884)[2] synonyms of species: C. comma: Hexodon molestus (Cope, 1884)

Conoryctes ("cone digger") is an extinct genus of taeniodonts from extinct tribe Conoryctini within extinct subfamily Conoryctinae and extinct family Conoryctidae, that lived in North America from early to middle Paleocene.

Palaeobiology

Conoryctes comma had well-stabilised digits and powerful forelimbs, indicating that it was highly adapted for scratch-digging.^[3]

References

1. E. D. Cope (1881.) "Mammalia of the lower Eocene beds." American Naturalist 15:337-338
2. E. D. Cope (1884.) "The Condylarthra." The American Naturalist, Volume 18, Number 8
3. Kynigopoulou, Zoi; Shelley, Sarah L.; Williamson, Thomas E.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (25 October 2024). Shaheen, Aliah Faisal (ed.). "The post-cranial anatomy and functional morphology of Conoryctes comma (Mammalia: Taeniodonta) from the Paleocene of North America". PLOS ONE. 19 (10) e0311053. Bibcode:2024PLoSO..1911053K. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0311053. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 11508153. PMID 39453951.