Cernaysia is an extinct genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 from the Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

 of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It existed in the age immediately following the extinction of the last dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

s. This animal was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata

Multituberculata

The Multituberculata were a group of rodent-like mammals that existed for approximately one hundred and twenty million years—the longest fossil history of any mammal lineage—but were eventually outcompeted by rodents, becoming extinct during the early Oligocene. At least 200 species are...

 within the suborder Cimolodonta

Cimolodonta

The Cimolodonta are a taxon of extinct mammals that lived from the Cretaceous to the Eocene. They were some of the more derived members of the extinct order Multituberculata. They probably lived something of a rodent-like existence until their ecological niche was assumed by true rodents...

 and family Neoplagiaulacidae

Neoplagiaulacidae

Neoplagiaulacidae is a family of mammal within the extinct order Multituberculata. Fossil remains are known from the Upper Cretaceous through the Eocene. Representatives have been found in North America, Europe and Asia....

.

The genus Cernaysia ("from Cernay") was named by Vianey-Liaud M. in 1986 based on two species. It has also been known as Carnaysia.

Fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 remains of the species Cernaysia davidi (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) were found in Puercan (Lower Paleocene) strata

Stratum

In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...

 of the San Juan Basin of New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, (USA). Remains of the species Cernaysia manueli (Vianey-Liaud M. 1986) were found in Upper Paleocene strata from Cernay

Cernay

Cernay is the name or part of the name of several communes in France:*Cernay, Calvados, in the Calvados département*Cernay, Eure-et-Loir, in the Eure-et-Loir département*Cernay, Haut-Rhin, in the Haut-Rhin département...

, France.