In Depth Priscakoala is a genus of koala that lived in Australia during the early Miocene. Further Reading – New Tertiary koala (Marsupialia, Phascolarctidae) from Riversleigh, Australia, with a revision of phascolarctid phylogenetics, paleoecology, and paleobiodiversity. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(1):125-138 - K. H. Black, M. Archer & S.J. Hand - 2012.
In Depth Horopeta is a genus of whale that lived in the waters around New Zealand during the Oligocene. Further Reading - The Earliest Gulp-Feeding Mysticete (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Oligocene of New Zealand. - Journal of Mammalian Evolution. - C.-H. Tsai & R. E. Fordyce - 2015.
In Depth Xianshou is a genus of allotherian mammal that lived in China during the late Jurassic. Further Reading - Three new Jurassic euharamiyidan species reinforce early divergence of mammals. - Nature 514:579-584. - S. Bi, Y. Wang, J. Guan, Z. Sheng & J. Meng - 2014.
In Depth Toipahautea is a genus of baleen whale that lived in waters around new Zealand during the Oligocene. Further Reading - A new archaic baleen whale Toipahautea waitaki (early Late Oligocene, New Zealand) and the origins of crown Mysticeti. - Royal Society Open Science 5(4):172453. - C.-H. Tsai & R. E. Fordyce - 2018.
In Depth As a hyaenodontid creodont, Sinopa is considered to be a relative to the much more famous Hyaenodon. Like with this genus, the current known distribution of Sinopa fossils suggest that it had a distribution stretching from North Africa to North America, though the vast majority of Sinopa fossils are so far known in … Read more
In Depth Platygonus is an extinct genus of peccary, a kind of artiodactyl mammal that is similar to a pig in physical appearance and ecological niche, yet is of a completely separate family. With larger Platygonus approaching one meter in length, they were quite a bit larger than modern peccaries. Platygonus may have been hunted … Read more
In Depth Konobelodon is a genus of amebelodont that lived across much of the world during the Miocene. Further Reading - Rediagnosis of the Genus Amebelodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea, Gomphotheriidae), with a New Subgenus and Species, Amebelodon (Konobelodon) britti. - Journal of Paleontology 64(6):1032-1040. - W. D. Lambert - 1990. - The Eurasian occurrence of the … Read more
In Depth Oreopithecus is a paradox as while it is amongst the best known of fossil apes, there is still much confusion over how this primate lived and was related to other primates. This confusion is down to how Oreopithecus displays features that both suggest an arboreal life where it swung through the tree canopy, … Read more
In Depth Trigodon seems to have been a large heavily built herbivore of the late Miocene of South America. Combined with reasonably long legs for its build, Trigodon is considered to have inhabited wetland swamps were it browsed upon softer vegetation. The most striking feature of Trigodon is the spiked horn that rises from the … Read more
In Depth Zygophyseter was a raptorial sperm whale that is sometimes called the ‘killer sperm whale’. Discovered in southern Italy, Zygophyseter is confirmed to have been active in the Paratethys Sea which today is represented by the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian and Aral Seas. However back in the Miocene the sea levels were much higher which … Read more