Herpetotherium

Taxobox
name="Herpetotherium"
fossil_range=Early Eocene - Early Miocene [http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=39965&is_real_user=1]

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image_caption="Herpetotherium"
regnum=Animalia
phylum=Chordata
classis=Mammalia
ordo=Marsupicarnivora
familia=Didelphidae
subfamilia=Herpetotheriinae
genus="Herpetotherium"
genus_authority=Cope, 1873
synonyms="Peratherium"
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"H. fugax" (syn. "Didelphys pygmaea", "H. scalare", "H. tricuspis") (type)
*"H. huntii"
*"H. knighti" (syn. "Centracodon delicatus", "Entomacodon minutus", "Peratherium morrisi")
*"H. merriami"
*"H. valens" (syn. "Peratherium donahoei")
*"H. youngi" (syn. "Peratherium spindleri")

"Herpetotherium" is an extinct genus of pygmy opossum. Species were arboreal omnivores, much like today's opossums.

Fossils have been found in California, Oregon, Texas, Florida, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan [http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=39965&is_real_user=1] . The oldest species, "H. knighti", is dated to around 50.3mya, and the most recent, an unnamed species, may be as recent as 16.3mya. [http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=39965&is_real_user=1] .

References

* [http://www.nps.gov/archive/flfo/online_museum/rocks-fossils/paleontology/animals/verts/mammals/index.html Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument]
* [http://flatpebble.nceas.ucsb.edu/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=39965&is_real_user=1 The Paleobiology Database]