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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 ancestral to the modern Carnivora, this order is now usually considered a polyphyletic assemblage of two different groups, the oxyaenids and the hyaenodonts, not a natural group. Oxyaenids are first known from the Palaeocene of North America, while hyaenodonts hail from the Palaeocene of Africa. Creodonts were the dominant carnivorous mammals from , peaking in diversity and prevalence during the Eocene. The first large, obviously carnivorous mammals appeared with the radiation of the oxyaenids in the late Paleocene. During the Paleogene, "creodont" species were the most abundant terrestrial carnivores in the Old World. In Oligocene Africa, hyaenodonts were the dominant group of large flesh-eaters, persisting until the middle of the Miocene. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyaenodonta
Hyaenodonta (" hyena teeth") is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into the late Miocene. Characteristics Hyaenodonts are characterized by long, often disproportionately large skulls, slender jaws, and slim bodies. They generally ranged in size from 30 to 140 cm at the shoulder. While '' Simbakubwa kutokaafrika'' may have been up to (surpassing the modern polar bear in size), this estimate is suspect due to being based on skull-body size ratios derived from felids, which have much smaller skulls for their body size. Other large hyaenodonts include two close and later-surviving relatives of ''Simbakubwa'', '' Hyainailouros'' and '' Megistotherium'' (the latter likely being the largest in the group), and the much earlier-living '' Hyaenodon gigas'' (the largest species from genus '' Hyaenodo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxyaenodonta
Oxyaenidae ("sharp hyenas") is a family of extinct carnivorous placental mammals. Traditionally classified in order Creodonta, 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 in North America, while smaller radiations of oxyaenids in Europe and Asia occurred during the Eocene. 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, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnassial Shear
Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified fourth upper premolar and the first lower molar. These teeth are also referred to as sectorial teeth. Taxonomy The name carnivoran is applied to a member of the order Carnivora. Carnivorans possess a common arrangement of teeth called carnassials, in which the first lower molar and the last upper premolar possess blade-like enamel crowns that act similar to a pair of shears for cutting meat. This dental arrangement has been modified by adaptation over the past 60 million years for diets composed of meat, for crushing vegetation, or for the loss of the carnassial function altogether found in pinnipeds. Carnassial dentition Carnassial teeth are modified molars (and in the case of carnivorans premolars) which are adapted to allow for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miacidae
Miacidae ("small points") is a former paraphyletic family of extinct primitive placental mammals that lived in North America, Europe and Asia during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 65–33.9 million years ago.IRMNG (2018). Miacidae Cope, 1880 †. Accessed at: http://www.irmng.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=102911 on 2019-01-22 These mammals were basal to order Carnivora, the crown-group within the Carnivoraformes. Miacids are thought to have evolved into the modern carnivorous mammals of the order Carnivora. They were small carnivores, superficially marten-like or civet-like with long, lithe bodies and long tails. Some species were arboreal, while others lived on the ground. They probably fed on invertebrates, lizards, birds, and smaller mammals like shrews and opossums. Their teeth and skulls show that the miacids were less developed than modern carnivorans. They had carnivoran-type carnassials, but lacked fully ossified auditory bullae (rounded protrusions). Classifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tritemnodon
''Tritemnodon'' ("three cutting teeth") was an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct order Hyaenodonta, that lived in North America during the early Eocene.Naoko Eg (2004."A new genus and species of hyaenodontid creodont from the Pondaung Formation (Eocene, Myanmar)"''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 24(2): 502–506 Fossils of ''Tritemnodon agilis'' have been found in Utah and Wyoming (Willwood Formation of Big Horn County and the Lower Bridger Formation of Uinta County). It was the size of a wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin .... References Hyaenodonts Eocene mammals of North America Prehistoric placental genera {{paleo-mammal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypercarnivore
A hypercarnivore is an animal that has a diet that is more than 70% meat, either via active predation or by scavenging. The remaining non-meat diet may consist of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some extant examples of hypercarnivorous animals include crocodilians, owls, shrikes, eagles, vultures, felids, most wild canids, polar bear, odontocetid cetaceans (toothed whales), snakes, spiders, scorpions, mantises, marlins, groupers, piranhas and most sharks. Every species in the family Felidae, including the domesticated cat, is a hypercarnivore in its natural state. Additionally, this term is also used in paleobiology to describe taxa of animals which have an increased slicing component of their dentition relative to the grinding component. In domestic settings, e.g. cats may have a diet derived from only plant and synthetic sources using modern processing methods. Feeding farmed animals such as alligators and crocodiles mostly or fully plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Didymictis
''Didymictis'' ("double weasel") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Didymictinae within extinct family Viverravidae, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Paleocene to middle Eocene. Description ''Didymictis'' is the only viverravid genus for which there are considerable postcranial remains. The genus was primarily terrestrial but at least partly cursorial, similar to a civets. ''Didymictis'' had an elongated and relatively large skull with small and low braincase and a long and narrow basicranial region. The occipital and sagittal crests are very high. The limbs are of moderate length with subdigitigrade and five-toed feet. The dentition () contrasts those of basal carnivoraforms by the sharp differentiation between sectorial and tubercular dentition, the loss of the last molar and an elongated second molar, similar to the dentition in bears and raccoons. Comparing ''Didymictis'' to '' Vulpavus'', a much smaller and more agile carn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viverravidae
Viverravidae ("ancestors of viverrids") is an extinct monophyletic family of mammals from extinct superfamily Viverravoidea within the clade Carnivoramorpha, that lived from the early Palaeocene to the late Eocene in North America, Europe and Asia.Malcolm C. McKenna, Susan K. Bell: ''Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level'' in Columbia University Press, New York (1997), 631 Seiten. They were once thought to be the earliest carnivorans and ancestral to extant ones, but now are placed outside the order Carnivora based on cranial morphology as relatives (a plesion-group) to extant carnivorans. General characteristics Wang and Tedford propose that they arose in North America 66–60 million years ago, spread to Asia then later to Europe, and were the first carnivoramorphans and possessed the first true pair of carnassial teeth.Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008.) "Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History." New York: Columbia University Press In viv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarkastodon
''Sarkastodon'' ("meaty tooth") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in Asia (in today's China and Mongolia) during the middle Eocene. It was a genus of large, carnivorous animals known only from a skull and jawbones. ''Sarkastodon'' was probably a hypercarnivore that preyed on large mammals in its range during the Middle Eocene, such as brontotheres, chalicotheres, and rhinoceroses. Its weight is estimated at , and its length at 3 m (10 ft). Discovery The type specimens of ''S. mongoliensis'' are known from Eocene deposits from the Irdin Manha Formation of Mongolia. Additional material referred to ''Sarkastodon'' is known from the Ulan Shireb beds ( from the holotype locality) of Inner Mongolia. These specimens were discovered by Walter W. Granger in 1930, on an expedition to the Gobi Desert. Palaeobiology ''Sarkastodon'' was a hypercarnivore, with hyaena-like dentition specialis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carnivora
Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivorans are found on every major landmass and in a variety of habitats, ranging from the cold polar regions of Earth to the hyper-arid region of the Sahara Desert and the open seas. Carnivorans exhibit a wide array of body plans, varying greatly in size and shape. Carnivora are divided into two suborders, the Feliformia, containing the true felids and several animals; and the Caniformia, containing the true canids and many animals. The feliforms include the Felidae, Viverridae, hyena, and mongoose families, the majority of which live only in the Old World; cats are the only exception, occurring in the Old World and the New World, entering the Americas via the Bering land bridge. The caniforms include the Caninae, Procyonidae, bears, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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), Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''palaiós'' meaning "old" and the Eocene Epoch (which succeeds the Paleocene), translating to "the old part of the Eocene". The epoch is bracketed by two major events in Earth's history. The K–Pg extinction event, brought on by an asteroid impact (Chicxulub impact) and possibly volcanism (Deccan Traps), marked the beginning of the Paleocene and killed off 75% of species, most famously the non-avian dinosaurs. The end of the epoch was marked by the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which was a major climatic event wherein about 2,500–4,500 gigatons of carbon were released into the atmosphere and ocean systems, causing a spike in global temperatures and ocean acidification. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
