In Depth Omoiosicista is a genus of dipodid mammal that lived in Inner Mongolia during the Miocene. Dipodid mammals are today known as jumping mice because these rodents are capable of hopping and jumping while standing on just the hind feet. Further Reading - New material of dipodid rodents (Dipodidae, Rodentia) from the early Miocene … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – On the fossil mammals of Australia. Part II. Description of a mutilated skull of the large marsupial carnivore (Thylacoleo carnifex Owen), from a calcareous conglomerate stratum, eighty miles S. W. of Melbourne, Victoria. – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 149, 309-322. – Richard Owen – 1859. – On the … Read more
In Depth Out of all of the nimravids, mammalian predators better known as the ‘false sabre-toothed cats’, Eusmilus seems to have been one of the most dangerous. Not only did Eusmilus grow to be one of the largest known nimravids at up to two and a half meters long, but a skull of its smaller … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – The Cheetah: Native American. – Science 14 September 1979: Vol. 205 no. 4411 pp. 1155-1158. – Daniel B. Adams – 1979. – The Plio-Pleistocene cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America – Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 10(4):434-454. – Blaire Van Valkenburgh, Frederick Grady & Bj�rn Kurt�n – 1990. -Evolution of … Read more
In Depth A relative of such genera as Aelurodon and Borophagus, Tomarctus is another one of the hyena-like ‘bone crushing’ dogs of the Miocene. This description comes from the attachments for powerful jaw closing muscles and short muzzle which means that when borophagine canids like Tomarctus bit on something, it was closer to the point … Read more
In Depth Neohelos is a genus of diprotodont marsupial similar to other genera such as Diprotodon and Zygomaturus. However, Neohelos is not currently known from such good fossil remains as other genera, hence why it is not as commonly known as them. Further Reading - Revision in the diprotodontid marsupial genus Neohelos: Systematics and biostratigraphy. … Read more
In Depth Originally thought to represent an extinct species of Cerdocyon (crab eating fox), C. avius was moved to its own genus and named Ferrucyon in 2020. Ferrucyon is also thought to be more of a vulpine type of fox. Further reading - The Pliocene canid Cerdocyon avius was not the type of fox that … Read more
In Depth Repenomamus was a fairly large mammal for the early Cretaceous, and one that was different from known therians in that the body was larger with proportionately shorter legs. The large size and the teeth of Repenomamus led to early suggestions that the genus was carnivorous. However it was the naming of the larger … Read more
In Depth Although not as large as Megatherium, Glossotherium was one of the largest known ground sloths in North America, though not as large as Eremotherium. Even though Glossoherium is known from across the USA and Mexico however, its full geographical distribution extends into South America all the way down into Argentina. Like other ground … Read more
In Depth Like many other prehistoric whales of its type Brygmophyseter had teeth in both the upper and lower jaws. As a mid-sized whale, Brygmophyseter would have probably been a generalist hunter tackling a variety of different prey types including fish, squid, and probably other whales. Not much is known about the hunting behaviour, but … Read more