''Metahapalodectes'' is an extinct
mesonychid mesonychian from Late Eocene strata of Southeastern Mongolia.
[Tsubamoto, Takehisa, et al. "Fossil evidence of a mesonychid mammal from the upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, Mongolia." Paleontological Research 16.2 (2012): 171-174.]
Similar to ''Lohoodon'', ''Metahapalodectes'' was originally described as a large
hapalodectid[DASHZEVEG, D. 1976. Novyye mezonikyidy (Condylarthra, Mesonychidae) iz paleogena Mongolii ew mesonychids (Condylarthra, Mesonychidae) from the early Paleogene of Mongolia In: Paleontologiya i Biostratigrapfiya Mongolii, N. N. Kramarenko (eds.), Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, Moscow, 3: 14-31.] on the basis of teeth and jaw fragments very similar to ''Hapalodectes'', but suggesting an animal comparable in size to ''
Mesonyx''. In 1987, Ting & Li refer ''
Lohoodon'' and ''Metahapalodectes'' to Mesonychidae due to the lower molar teeth of both genera lacking a re-entrant groove on the mesial or anterior side, a feature diagnostic of Hapalodectidae.
[SolÚ, FlorÚal, et al. "The first species of Hapalodectes (Mesonychia, Mammalia) from the middle Paleocene of China (Qianshan Basin, Anhui Province) sheds light on the initial radiation of hapalodectids." Palaeontology 60.3 (2017): 433-449.][TING and L I , C. K. 1987. The skull of Hapalodectes (Acreodi, Mammalia), with notes on some Chinese Paleocene mesonychids. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 25, 161–186.]
References
External links
Paleo DatabasePaleo Taxamony
Mesonychia
Eocene mammals of Asia
Prehistoric placental genera
Fossil taxa described in 1976
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