In Depth Although it had a skull more like that of a big cat, Epicyon was an early ancestor to canines. Epicyon is noted for having an incredibly powerful body that may have weighed up to one hundred and seventy kilograms (for Epicyon haydeni). Its unusually shaped skull meant that Epicyon had a very short … Read more
In Depth Ocucajea is a genus of basilosaurid whale that lived in the waters around South America during the Eocene. Further Reading - New Middle Eocene Whales from the Pisco Basin of Peru. - Journal of Paleontology 85 (5): 955–69. - Mark D. Uhen, Nicholas D. Pyenson, Thomas J. Devries, Mario Urbina & Paul R. … Read more
In Depth With a length of four meters Doedicurus is easily one of the larger members of the glyptodonts, armoured herbivores that are related to modern day armadillos. Like other glyptodonts, Doedicurus had an armoured shell made from osteoderms that grew to surround its body. This shell was most strongly fixed around the pelvis, with … Read more
In Depth Witwatia is a genus of bat that at the time of writing only known to have inhabited North Africa during the late Eocene. The type species, W. schlosseri as well as W. eremicus are both known from the Birket Qarun Formation of Egypt. A third species named in 2012, W. sigei, is known … Read more
In Depth Barbourofelis is easily one of the largest of the ‘false sabre-toothed cats’ which were carnivorous mammals that through convergent evolution evolved to be very much like cats in form even though they are in fact quite distantly related. For this reason Barbourofelis is often quoted as being a member of the Nimravidae, a … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – The Pleistocene elephants of Santa Rosa Island, California. – Science 68 (1754): 140–141. – Chester Stock & E. L. Furlong – 1928. – Giant Island/Pygmy Mammoths:The Late Pleistocene Prehistory of Channel Islands National Park. – National Park Service Paleontological Research 4: 35–39. – Larry D. Agenbroad & Don P. Morris … Read more
In Depth Prosansanosmilus is similar to another European genus of barbourofelid called Sansanosmilus, but is known from deposits that are dated to being a few million years older than the earliest currently known fossils of Sansanosmilus, hence the addition of ‘Pro’ to the genus name. The early appearance of Prosansanosmilus is also revealed in its … Read more
In Depth Yoshi is a genus of metailurine sabre-toothed cat that lived in Eastern Europe during the late Miocene. Yoshi seems to have been adapted to be smaller light weight predators relying upon speed and agility to capture prey. Further Reading - A New Felid from the Late Miocene of the Balkans and the Contents … Read more
In Depth Along with Daeodon from North America and Paraentelodon from Asia, Entelodon is one of the largest currently known entelodonts, Eocene to Miocene era mammals that are interpreted as pig-like although their exact relationship to pigs is still strongly debated. The broad distribution of Entelodon species across Eurasia reveal that it was a successful … Read more
In Depth Peltephilus was an extinct relative of today’s armadillos, though its large size makes it comparable to the largest of today’s species such as the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) which has a combined head and tail length of one hundred and fifty centimetres (one hundred for the body and fifty for the tail). The … Read more