Propalaeocastor

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Propalaeocastor
Fossil range: early Oligocene

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Suborder:	Castorimorpha
Family:	Castoridae
Subfamily:	Castorinae
Genus:	†Propalaeocastor Borissoglebskaya, 1967

Type species

†Propalaeocastor kazachstanicus

Species

†P. butselensis
†P. irtyshensis
†P. kazachstanicus
†P. shevyrevae
†P. zaissanensis

Synonyms

†Asteneofiber Kretzoi, 1974

Propalaeocastor is a poorly-known extinct genus of beaver (family Castoridae) from the early Oligocene of Europe and Asia. Recently described material of a new species of Propalaeocastor, P. irtyshensis, indicates that the genus is probably the earliest known member of the subfamily Castorinae (Wu et al., 2004), which includes all castorids more closely related to living beavers (genus Castor) than to the extinct Giant Beaver (genus Castoroides). Previously, Propalaeocastor had been allied with more basal beavers such as Agnotocastor and Anchitheriomys (Korth, 2002). According to Wu and coauthors, Propalaeocastor, specifically P. butselensis, is the likely ancestor of the better-known Eurasian castorine Steneofiber.

[edit] References

Korth W.W., 2002. Comments on the systematics and classification of the beavers (Rodentia, Castoridae). Journal of Mammalian Evolution 8(4):279-296. doi:10.1023/A:1014468732231
Wu, W., Meng, J., Ye, J. and Ni, X. 2004. Propalaeocastor (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the early Oligocene of Burqin Basin, Xinjiang. American Museum Novitates 3461:1-16. [1]