Corumictis is an extinct genus of mustelid from the Early Oligocene (Arikareean) of North America, specifically Oregon.
Name
The generic name is derived from the
Latin words
Corum (northwest) and
ictis (weasel). The specific name
honors
paleontologist Mieczysław Wolsan, who extensively studied the evolutionary history of fossil musteloids.
Discovery
The skull of
Corumictis was discovered around 2005 at the John Day Formation in northern Oregon, which dates to between 28.8 million and 25.9 million years ago.
The skull was originally believed to have belonged to an ancient
felidae, but was re-examined by palaeontologist Ryan Paterson of Carlton University in
Canada, who concluded that it was a mustelid instead.
Description
Corumictis was very small, about the size of the living
least weasel; its skull measured just long.
It is considered closely allied with
Plesictis and certain
Oligobuninae mustelids.
has very sharp teeth, and compared to modern mustelids it lacks an alisphenoid canal and a postprotocrista on its first molars. It retains a dorsally deep suprameatal fossa, a feature occasionally considered unique to
procyonids.
