Nemolestes

Nemolestes
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Sparassodonta
Genus: Nemolestes
Ameghino, 1902
Type species
Nemolestes spalacotherinus
Ameghino, 1902
Other species

Nemolestes lagunafriensis Rangel et al., 2023

Nemolestes is an extinct genus of sparassodont that lived in South America during the Lutetian and Bartonian stages of the Eocene epoch.[1]

Taxonomy

Silvenator brasiliensis, a taxon known from the Itaboraí fossil site of Brazil, was originally assigned to the genus Nemolestes; however, it was later reclassified as belonging to its own separate monotypic genus on the basis of its dental dissimilarity to other species of Nemolestes.[2]

Distribution

Nemolestes lagunafriensis is, as the name suggests, known from Laguna Fría, a Lutetian fossil site in Chubut, Argentina.[3] Nemolestes spalacotherinus, the type species, is known from the Bartonian site of Colhué Huapí Norte in Chubut.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ "Nemolestes". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  2. ^ Rangel, C. C.; Carneiro, L. M.; Oliveira, é. V. (August 2023). "Systematics, dental specializations and paleoecology of Silvenator gen. nov., a small carnivorous metatherian (Mammalia, Sparassodonta) from the Paleogene Itaboraí basin". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 128 104461. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2023.104461. Retrieved 3 May 2026 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
  3. ^ "Nemolestes lagunafriensis". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  4. ^ "Nemolestes spalacotherinus". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  5. ^ Rangel, Caio César; Carneiro, Leonardo M.; Tejedor, Marcelo F.; Bergqvist, Lílian Paglarelli; Oliveira, Édison Vicente (7 June 2023). "A reassessment of Nemolestes (Mammalia, Metatheria): Systematics and evolutionary implications for Sparassodonta". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 30 (3): 535–559. doi:10.1007/s10914-023-09663-7. ISSN 1064-7554. Retrieved 3 May 2026 – via Springer Nature Link.