Notharctus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of primates}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| taxon = Notharctus

| authority = Leidy, 1870

| fossil_range = Early-Mid Eocene (Wasatchian-Uintan)
~{{Fossil range|50.3|40.4}}

| image = Notharctus AMNH.jpg

| image_caption = Notharctus tenebrosus

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = {{plainlist|

• {{extinct}}N. pugnax
• {{extinct}}N. robustior
• {{extinct}}N. tenebrosus
• {{extinct}}N. venticolus}}

| synonyms = * Hipposyus {{small|Leidy 1872}}

• Limnotherium {{small|Marsh 1871}}
• Telmalestes {{small|Marsh 1872}}
• Thinolestes {{small|Marsh 1872}}
• Tomitherium {{small|Cope 1872}}

}}

Notharctus is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in North America and Europe during the late to middle Eocene.{{Sfn|Gebo|2002|p=25}}

File:Notharctus tenebrosus e Plesiadapis cooki (cropped).jpg (right), a plesiadapiform. Both come from Eocene Wyoming, though the latter is slightly geologically older.]]

The body form of Notharctus is similar to that of modern rats. Its fingers were elongated for clamping onto branches, including the development of a thumb. Its spine is flexible and the animal was about {{convert|40|cm|in}} in length, excluding the long tail.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 287|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}

There were at least four different Notharctus species.{{Sfn|Gebo|2002|p=25}} Fossils from at least seven other potential species have also been discovered.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

File:Notharctus osborni.JPG