Prochetodon is a genus 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...

s from 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...

. It lived during the Upper 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...

 and the Lower Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. The genus was formally named by G. L. Jepsen in 1940. (Jepsen, 1940)

P. cavus

The species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 Prochetodon cavus weighed about 135 g. Remains have been discovered in Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, in the United States

United States

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

. They were found in the Princeton Quarry, and the deposits were dated from the Upper Paleocene to the Lower Eocene. Material is in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Natural History at Yale. The species was named by G. L. Jepsen in 1940. (Jepsen, 1940)

P. foxi

The species Prochetodon foxi weighed about 200 g. Remains have been discovered in Wyoming and Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 in the United States, in the Long Draw Quarry, and in the Swan Hills of Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The 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...

 are dated to the Upper Paleocene. The species was named by David. W. Krause in 1987. (Krause, 1987)

P. taxus

The species Prochetodon taxus weighed about 190 g. Remains have been discovered in Wyoming, in the United States, in the deposits of Clark's Fork Basin, which have been dated to the Upper Paleocene. David Krause first tentatively referred to the species P. cf. carvus in 1980, and then gave it its current classification in 1987. (Krause, 1987)