Oxyaenidae ("sharp

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

s") is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

carnivorous

placental Placental mammals (infraclass Placentalia ) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placentalia contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguished ...

mammals. Traditionally classified in order

Creodonta Creodonta ("meat teeth") is a former order of extinct carnivorous placental mammals that lived from the early Paleocene to the late Miocene epochs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Originally thought to be a single group of animals ance ...

, this group is now classified in its own order Oxyaenodonta ("sharp tooth hyenas") within clade Pan-Carnivora in mirorder Ferae. The group contains four subfamilies comprising fourteen genera. Oxyaenids were the first to appear during the late

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, while smaller radiations of oxyaenids in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

occurred during the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

Etymology

The name of order Oxyaenodonta comes , name of hyena genus '' Hyaena'' and . The name of family Oxyaenidae comes , name of hyena genus ''Hyaena'' and taxonomic suffix " -idae".

Description

They were superficially cat-like mammals that walked on flat feet, in contrast to modern

cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, which walk and run on their toes. Anatomically, characteristic features include a short, broad skull, deep jaws, and teeth designed for crushing rather than shearing, as in the hyaenodonts or modern cats. Oxyaenids were specialized carnivores that preyed on other terrestrial vertebrates, eggs and insects. They were capable of climbing trees, which is suggested by

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

evidence of their paws.

Classification and phylogeny

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

Cladogram according to Gunnel in 1991:

Temporal distribution

Within clade Pan-Carnivora

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from:-72.1 till:-66.043 color:l-green text: Maast. from:-66.043 till:-61.2 color:orange text:

Danian The Danian is the oldest age or lowest stage of the Paleocene Epoch or Series, of the Paleogene Period or System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginning of the Danian (and the end of the preceding Maastrichtian) is at the Cretac ...

from:-61.2 till:-59.2 color:orange text: S. from:-59.2 till:-56.0 color:orange text: Th. from:-56.0 till:-47.8 color:orange text:

Ypresian In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

from:-47.8 till:-41.2 color:orange text:

Lutetian The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage (stratigraphy), stage or age (geology), age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it ...

from:-41.2 till:-37.8 color:orange text: Bar. from:-37.8 till:-33.9 color:orange text: Pria. from:-33.9 till:-27.82 color:orange text:

Rupelian The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded b ...

from:-27.82 till:-23.03 color:orange text: Chatt. from:-23.03 till:-20.44 color:yellow text: A. from:-20.44 till:-15.97 color:yellow text: Burdi. from:-15.97 till:-13.82 color:yellow text: L. from:-13.82 till:-11.63 color:yellow text: S. from:-11.63 till:-7.246 color:yellow text: Torto. from:-7.246 till:-5.333 color:yellow text: M. from:-5.333 till:-2.58 color:yellow text:... from:-2.58 till:-0 color:white text:... bar:series-epoch-top from:-76.0 till:-66.043 color:l-green text:

Upper Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cret ...

from:-66.043 till:-56.0 color:orange text:

from:-56.0 till:-33.9 color:orange text:

from:-33.9 till:-23.03 color:orange text:

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

from:-23.03 till:-5.333 color:yellow text:

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

from:-5.333 till:-2.58 color:yellow text: Pl. from:-2.58 till:-0 color:white text:... bar:system-period-top from:-76.0 till:-66.043 color:l-green text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

from:-66.043 till:-23.03 color:orange text:

Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...

from:-23.03 till:-2.58 color:yellow text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...

from:-2.58 till:-0 color:white text: Q. bar:era-erathem-top from:-76.0 till:-66.043 color:s-blue text:

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

from:-66.043 till:-0 color:d-yellow text:

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

bar:eon-eonothem-top from:-76.0 till:-0 color:l-blue text:

Phanerozoic The Phanerozoic is the current and the latest of the four eon (geology), geologic eons in the Earth's geologic time scale, covering the time period from 538.8 million years ago to the present. It is the eon during which abundant animal and ...

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Altacreodus ''Altacreodus'' (" creodont from Alberta") is an extinct genus of eutherian mammals. Fossils have been found in North America where they first appeared during the Late Cretaceous, and they died out prior to the start of the Paleocene. It is poss ...

bar:NAM2 color:orange from:-61.6 till:-8.8 text: Hyaenodonta bar:NAM3 color:yellow from:-54.9 till:-50.5 text: Wyolestidae bar:NAM4 color:green from:-47.0 till:-37.0 text: Simidectes bar:NAM5 color:l-blue from:-0 till:-66.043 text: Carnivoramorpha bar:NAM6 color:red from:-58.9 till:-39.7 text:Oxyaenidae (Oxyaenodonta)

Within family Oxyaenidae

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from:-59.2 till:-56.0 color:orange text:

Thanetian The Thanetian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Serie ...

from:-56.0 till:-47.8 color:orange text:

from:-47.8 till:-41.2 color:orange text:

from:-41.2 till:-37.8 color:orange text: Bartonian from:-37.8 till:-33.9 color:orange text:

Priabonian The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage ...

from:-33.9 till:-31.0 color:orange text:

> bar:series-epoch-top from:-61.0 till:-56.0 color:orange text:

from:-56.0 till:-33.9 color:orange text:

from:-33.9 till:-31.0 color:orange text:

bar:system-period-top from:-61.0 till:-31.0 color:orange text:

bar:era-erathem-top from:-61.0 till:-31.0 color:d-yellow text:

bar:eon-eonothem-top from:-61.0 till:-31.0 color:l-blue text:

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