In Depth With the type species originally described as a species of Prosqualodon, Otekaikea became a recognised genus of toothed whale in 2015. Otekaikea is considered to be very similar to the genus Waipatia. Further Reading - Fossil dolphin Otekaikea marplesi (Latest Oligocene, New Zealand) expands the morphological and taxonomic diversity of Oligocene cetaceans. - … Read more
In Depth Maofelis is a genus of nimravid that lived in China during the late Eocene. Nimravids are also known as ‘false-sabre-toothed cats’ and this is because while they share a resemblance to the machairodonts which are the ‘true sabre-toothed cats’, nimravids are not true cats, and therefore not members of the Felidae, which machairodonts … Read more
In Depth The type genus of the Gomphotheriidae, Gomphotherium is quite a bizarre prehistoric elephant that is quite different from the ones that we know today. Gomphotherium still had two tusks protruding down from the upper jaw, but they were recurved, which means that they gently curved towards the body rather than away like in … Read more
In Depth Mixocetus was a genus of baleen whale known to have swum in the oceanic waters off California during the late Miocene epoch. Further Reading - A new cetothere from the Modelo Formation at Los Angeles, California. - Carnegie Institution of Washington 447:83-104. - R. Kellogg - 1934.
In Depth Whereas its relative Hipparion spread across North America, Eurasia and Africa, Neohipparion is so far only known from North America, from Southern Canada to across most of the United States and Mexico. Neohipparion appeared on the North American landscape at a time when grassy plains were replacing forests as the dominant habitats, a … Read more
In Depth Morawanocetus is a genus of whale that is known to have lived in the waters around what is now Japan as well as California in the USA during the Oligocene. These discoveries indicate that Morawanocetus was widespread across the Pacific Ocean. As a member of the Aetiocetidae, Morawanocetus, would have been a relative … Read more
In Depth Although not as famous as Smilodon, Xenosmilus was nonetheless an exceptionally powerful Pleistocene era big cat that is estimated to have weighed between 230-400 kg. This estimate puts Xenosmilus within the same weight class as the largest species of Smilodon, and even though it was smaller, Xenosmilus would have been proportionately stronger for … Read more
In Depth Nanolestes is a genus of amphitheriid mammal that lived during the Jurassic. Further Reading - New stem-lineage representatives of Zatheria (Mammalia) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(2):332-348. - T. Martin - 2002.
In Depth Though most people have never heard of it, Hyotherium may well be the genus that modern day boar and domestic pigs are descended from. Unfortunately the only fossils that are usually found of Hyotherium are teeth with occasional skulls and lower jaws, so it is difficult to ascertain an exact size range for … Read more
In Depth Enaliarctos has been commonly included in books about prehistoric animals where it is credited as being the first pinniped, the groups that seals, sea lions and walruses all belong to. The 2009 description of Puijila however has taken some of the limelight away since this is even more primitive pinneped in form that … Read more