Mesonyx

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iMesonyx
Fossil range: Middle Eocene
Mesonyx, which may have looked more or less like hyaenas
Mesonyx, which may have looked more or less like hyaenas
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Mesonychia
Family: Mesonychidae
Genus: Mesonyx
Species
  • Mesonyx obtusidens

Mesonyx ("middle nail") was a member of the Mesonychia, the best known family of the Acreodi - which may have been ancestral to cetaceans. It was a wolflike predator from the Middle Eocene of Wyoming and East Asia (around 45 million years ago). Agile limbs made it a fast runner, and it probably hunted hoofed plant eaters, moving lightly on its toes, not a flat-footed like the Acreodi. However, instead of claws, Mesonyx's toes ended in small hooves. Its long skull had a crest above the braincase to anchor large jaw muscles and give it a powerful bite.

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  • Much of this information comes from Dinosaur Encyclopedia


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