Parikimys fossil map
Where fossils of Parikimys have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 66 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 66 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 72.2–66 million years ago (Maastrichtian) |
| Periods | Cretaceous |
| Family | Neoplagiaulacidae |
| Named by | Wilson et al. 2010 |
| Fossil records | 6 occurrences at 3 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States |
| Rock formations | Lance, Laramie |
About Parikimys
Parikimys carpenteri is an extinct species of prehistoric mammal, a multituberculate which existed in the western United States at the end of the Cretaceous period. The species is named "in honor of the DMNS vertebrate paleontologist Ken Carpenter, whose initial field work in the sparse, non-marine Cretaceous exposures of Weld County inspired this project." Fossils are known from the Laramie Formation of Colorado and the Lance Formation of Wyoming.
While the species shares several morphological characteristics with Mesodma, there are a few characters that set it apart. Parikimys is known from a well preserved left dentary containing p4-m2 as well as p3 alveolus. The species differs from similar taxa (Mesodma) based on pyramidal shaped cones on the m1, which are similar to Cimolodon and more primitive than Mesodma. The mesial aspect of the crown is narrow and forms a V-shaped concavity received the distal end of the p4. The cusps of the internal row are mesiodistally offset from the external row and are distinctly taller than the medial row as well.
A second locality in southern Wyoming described Parikimys, but with specimens roughly 20% smaller than those of the original.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Parikimys (revision 1341186830), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q7137092.
