A new species of Purgatorius (Mammalia; Primatomorpha) from the Lower Paleocene Bear Formation, Crazy Mountains Basin, south-central Montana
Abstract
Purgatorius titusi, represented by 51 teeth and jaw fragments, is described from the lower Paleocene Bear Formation of the Crazy Mountains Basin in south-central Montana. Several synapomorphies, including a weak postprotocingulum and mesial inflection of molar trigonids, are indicative of the taxon's "plesiadapiform" affinities. Other features, such as wider stylar shelf and a less squared lingual outline on upper molars, are more primitive than those of Purgatorius unio, heretofore the earliest occurring species of well-represented primatomorphs.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Paleontology
- Pub Date:
- January 1997
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S0022336000039032
- Bibcode:
- 1997JPal...71..149B