Proterix
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Oligocene|Early Miocene}}
| taxon = Proterix
| authority = Matthew, 1903
| subdivision =
- †P. bicuspis
- †P. loomisi
}}
Proterix is an extinct genus of erinaceid mammal from the Late Oligocene to the Early Miocene of North America.
Ecology
Proterix was most likely a burrowing insectivore.{{Cite journal |last=Macdonald |first=James Reid |date=1961 |title=The lower dentition of Proterix loomisi Matthew? |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jpaleontol/article/35/3/632/79430/The-lower-dentition-of-Proterix-loomisi-Matthew |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=632–633}} The original reference suggests reduced limbs may be possible, due to the unusually high number of lumbar vertebrae, but cautions that conclusions must be reserved until a complete skeleton is found.{{Cite book |last=Bjork |first=Philip R. |url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48612/2/ID475.pdf |title=Studies on Cenozoic Paleontology and Stratigraphy: Claude W. Hibbard Memorial Volume 3 |work= |publisher=Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan |year=1975 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=G.R. |location=Ann Arbor |pages=81–88 |chapter=Observations on the morphology of the hedgehog genus Proterix (Insectivora: Erinaceidae) |editor-last2=Friedland |editor-first2=N.E.}} This proposal was exaggerated in a popular science book by Dougal Dixon, which speculated that it may have been a limbless mammal with an armored head.{{cite book |last=Dixon |first=Dougal |title=World Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures |publisher=Lorenz Books |year=2008 |isbn=9780754817307 |location=New York |page=447 |authorlink=Dougal Dixon}} Though very little of the post-cranial skeleton has been found, this situation is typical for mammals and not an indicator of unusual anatomy.{{Cite journal |last=Gawne |first=C.E. |date=1968 |title=The genus Proterix (Insectivora, Erinaceidae) of the Upper Oligocene of North America |url=https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/d16636de-5af6-432f-8e03-1fb0b6f0a27f |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=2315 |access-date=19 January 2013 |hdl=2246/2525}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3924219}}
Category:Oligocene mammals of North America
Category:Miocene mammals of North America
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1903
{{paleo-eulipotyphla-stub}}