Palaeoryctes

Palaeoryctes
Temporal range: middle Paleocene to early Eocene
Palaeoryctes jepseni
lower jaw fragment
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia (?)
Order: †Palaeoryctida
Family: †Palaeoryctidae
Subfamily: †Palaeoryctinae
Genus: †Palaeoryctes
Matthew, 1913
Type species
†Palaeoryctes puercensis
Matthew, 1913
Species
  • †P. cruoris (Gunnell, 1994)
  • †P. jepseni (Bloch, 2004)
  • †P. minimus (Gheerbrant, 1992)
  • †P. puercensis (Matthew, 1913)
  • †P. punctatus (Van Valen, 1966)

Palaeoryctes ("ancient digger") is an extinct paraphyletic genus of mammals from paraphyletic subfamily Palaeoryctinae within family Palaeoryctidae, that lived in North America and Africa from middle Paleocene to early Eocene.

Palaeoryctes resembled a modern shrew, being slender and sharp-nosed, with typical insectivore teeth. It was around 12.5 centimetres (4.9 in) long, and weighed around 20 to 60 grams (0.71 to 2.12 oz). The molars of Palaeoryctes had little function other than piercing.

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