Stylinodon

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Stylinodon
Fossil range: Early to Middle Eocene
Stylinodon mirus
Stylinodon mirus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cimolesta
Suborder: Taeniodonta
Family: Stylinodontidae
Subfamily: †Stylinodontinae
Genus: Stylinodon
Marsh, 1874
Type species
Stylinodon mirus
Species

S. inexplicatus
S. mirus

Stylinodon is an extinct genus of taeniodont mammal, and is the best known, and last genus of taeniodonts, lived some 45 million years ago during middle Eocene in North America.

The skull suggests it had a blunt face, and a very short snout. Species ranged in size from pigs to leopards, reached a body mass of up to 80 kg. Its canines had developed into huge, incisor-like root-less teeth. Stylinodon's molars were covered in enamel and continued growing throughout its life. Most likely, it fed on rough roots and tubers.

[edit] External links

  • [1] Photograph of skull at Utah Field House of Natural History Museum, at Vernal, Utah
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