Mixodectes pungens resided in western North America throughout the Early Paleocene date, around 62 million years back.

Explained in 1883 by the renowned American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, this types was formerly understood from fossilized teeth and jawbone pieces.

In brand-new research study, Yale University’s Professor Eric Sargis and his coworkers analyzed a brand-new skeleton of Mixodectes pungens — the most total dentally associated skeleton yet recuperated for a mixodectid mammal– from the Nacimiento Formation of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, the United States.

“A 62-million-year-old skeleton of this quality and efficiency uses unique insights into mixodectids, consisting of a much clearer image of their evolutionary relationships,” Professor Sargis stated.

“Our findings reveal that they are close family members of primates and colugos– flying lemurs belonging to Southeast Asia– making them relatively close family members of human beings.”

The scientists figured out that the brand-new specimen came from a fully grown grownup that weighed about 1.3 kg.

The anatomy of the animal’s limbs and claws suggest that it was arboreal and efficient in vertically holding on to tree trunks and branches.

Its molar teeth had crests to break down abrasive product, recommending it was omnivorous and mainly consumed leaves.

“This fossil skeleton offers brand-new proof worrying how placental mammals diversified environmentally following the termination of the dinosaurs,” stated Dr. Stephen Chester, a scientist at Brooklyn College, City University of New York and the Yale Peabody Museum.

“Characteristics such as a bigger body mass and an increased dependence on leaves enabled Mixodectes pungens to flourish in the exact same trees most likely shown other early primate loved ones.”

Mixodectes pungens was rather big for a tree-dwelling mammal in North America throughout the Early Paleocene.

The brand-new skeleton is considerably bigger than a partial skeleton of Torrejonia wilsonia little arboreal mammal from an extinct group of primates called plesiadapiforms, that was found together with it.

While Mixodectes pungens survived on leaves, Torrejonia wilsoni‘s diet plan mainly included fruit.

These differences in size and diet plan recommend that mixodectids inhabited a distinct environmental specific niche in the Early Paleocene that identified them from their tree-dwelling contemporaries.

2 phylogenetic analyses carried out to clarify the types’ evolutionary relationships verified that mixodectids were euarchontans, a group of mammals that includes treeshrews, primates, and colugos.

“While one analysis supported that they were antiquated primates, the other did not,” Professor Sargis stated.

“However, the latter analysis validated that mixodectids are primatomorphans, a group within Euarchonta made up of primates and colugos, however not treeshrews.”

“While the research study does not totally deal with the dispute over where mixodectids belong on the evolutionary tree, it substantially narrows it.”

The findings appear today in the journal Scientific Reports

_____

S.G.B. Chester et al2025. New extremely total skeleton of Mixodectes exposes arboreality in a big Paleocene primatomorphan mammal following the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass termination. Sci Rep 15, 8041; doi: 10.1038/ s41598-025-90203-z