Prionessus
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Prionessus is a genus of extinct mammal from the Paleocene of what is now Central Asia. It was a member of the extinct order Multituberculata within the suborder Cimolodonta and superfamily Taeniolabidoidea. The genus was named by William Diller Matthew and Walter Granger in 1925, and is based on a single species P.lucifer.<ref>Matthew and Granger 1925 pp 6-7</ref>
Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum believe that members of the Taeniolabidoidea, such as Prionessus, are all quite similar. For example, they all share a short wide snout and a blocky head<ref>Kielan-Jarowoska and Hurum, 2001, pg 418-419</ref> so it is probably instructive to look at a close and more commonly occurring relative, Lambdopsalis bulla, a likely burrower.<ref>Kielan-Jarowoska and Sloan, 1979, pg 195</ref><ref>Kielan-Jarowoska and Qi, 1990, pp 91-92</ref> Matthew and Granger noted in their discovery that P.lucifer had a robust lower incisor, supportive of this similarity.<ref>Matthew and Granger 1925, pp 6-7</ref>
Fossil remains have been found in the Late Paleocene Nomogen and Khashat Formations of Gashato, Naran and Nomogen in Bayan Ulan of Mongolia and China. Prionessus fossils range from 59-55 million years ago, through the Thanetian age of the late Paleocene. They were estimated to have had a body mass of about Template:Convert.<ref>Wilson et al 2012, Supplemental Tables 3 and 5</ref>
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