Discovery and naming
Discovery The holotype of Abdounodus hamdii MNHN 21 was collected in French fossil markets. It consists of a left mandible and teeth. A study in 2016 described new material that included the maxillary and upper dentition. Naming The generic name combines Abdoun referring to the place of origin and odus meaning tooth. The specific name hamdii is named after M. Mohamed Hamdi, who was an active supporter for paleontological research in the region.Description
Abdounodus has dentition similar of that mioclaenids, but is differentiated by features such as the talonid being short and narrow, the posfossid being weakly excavated, the entoconid being quite large, lack of cingula, and a small and a inflated hypocounlid. The upper molars are noticeably bunodont with an inflated crown and bulbous cusps, and have 3 roots. There also features that support a meatconule-dervived pseudohypocone such as a absence of other conules aside from the metaconule-pseudohypocone.Classification
In a study in 2016 it was classified as a basal afrothere It was hypothesized that Abdounodus and Ocepeia are transitional lophodont stem paenugulates. In the same study the authors erected a new clade called Paenungulatomorpha.Paleobiology
Diet Abdounodus would’ve likely ate hard and abrasive plants as its jaw and tooth remains show it would’ve likely had a strong crushing motion.References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q20817538 Paenungulatomorpha Paleocene mammals of Africa Fossils of Morocco Fossil taxa described in 2001 Paleocene mammals Monotypic prehistoric placental genera