A new genus of picrodontid primate from the Paleocene of Utah.

A new picrodontid primate, Draconodus apertus, is described from the North Horn Formation, Dragon Canyon, central Utah, USA. The fauna from Dragon Canyon is considered to be early middle Paleocene (early Torrejonian) in age by faunal and paleomagnetic correlation with the sequence in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Draconodus is the earliest known member of the family Picrodontidae, and possesses a flattened, squared-off first upper molar with separated postpara- and premetacristae (thus forming incomplete centrocrista) and other primitive characters. The morphology of the teeth suggests that the last three upper teeth of the family Picrodontidae are homologous with M1M2M3 of other primates as traditionally designated, rather than 'P5'M1M2. If Draconodus is close to the stem of the picrodontids, then Picrodus and Zanycteris probably represent separate lineages within the family.