''Lahimia'' ("carnivore")
[ is an extinct ]genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of hyaenodont
Hyaenodonta ("hyena teeth") is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental pan-carnivoran mammals from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into the ...
mammals in family Boualitomidae
Boualitomidae ("Bou Alian cutters") is a family of extinct predatory mammals from extinct order Hyaenodonta. Fossil remains of these mammals are known from middle Paleocene to late Eocene deposits in Africa. Boualitomids had only three pairs of ...
, known from the Selandian stage
The Selandian is a stage in the Paleocene. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Danian and followed by the Thanetian. Sometimes the Paleocene is subdivided in subepochs, in which the Selandian forms the "middle Paleocene".
Stratig ...
(middle Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pal ...
) of Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
. ''Lahimia selloumi'' is the one of the oldest known members of order Hyaenodonta.[
]
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships of genus ''Lahimia'' are shown in the following cladogram.
References
Hyaenodonts
Paleocene mammals
Paleocene mammals of Africa
Fossils of Morocco
Fossil taxa described in 2009
Prehistoric placental genera
{{paleo-mammal-stub