In Depth The Kurī was introduced to New Zealand with the arrival of the first people sometime in the late thirteenth century. At the time of its arrival, the Kurī was the largest mammalian predator in New Zealand (not counting people), though the Kurī is often credited with being about the size of a … Read more
In Depth Silvacola is a genus of primitive hedgehog that lived in North America during the early Eocene. With an estimated body length of only five to six centimetres, Silvacola is the smallest hedgehog ever discovered. Further Reading - Early Eocene mammals from the Driftwood Creek beds, Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park, northern British Columbia. - … Read more
In Depth Xenokeryx is a genus of palaeomerycid artiodactyl mammal that lived in western Europe during the Miocene. Xenokeryx is noted to have a bizarre T-shaped horn rising up from the back of the skull. This horn is the inspiration of the type species name X. amidalae, which is a reference to the character of … Read more
In Depth A relative of the gomphothere elephants, Stegomastodon along with Cuvieronius was one of only two known elephant genera to spread into South America (remains once considered to belong to the Mammut genus are now assigned to these two genera). Unlike other gomphothere elephants (those like Gomphotherium), Stegomastodon only had two tusks that grew … Read more
In Depth Eocetus was first named by Eberhard Fraas in 1904, but at first as Mesocetus schweinfurthi. It soon came to the attention of Fraas however that the name Mesocetus was already in use, so he instead created the genus name Eocetus for his specimen. Known as a protocetid whale, and hence relative to genera … Read more
In Depth Platalearostrum is an extinct genus of dolphin that lived in the waters of what is now the North Sea. The first fossils of Platalearostrum were dredged up by a fishing trawler, and they show us that Platalearostrum probably had a balloon shaped head. Further Reading - A new dolphin (Cetacea, Delphinidae) from the … Read more
In Depth Nidimys is a genus of multituberculatan mammal that lived in North America during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - Mammals from the St. Mary River Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Montana. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30(3):885-898. - J. P. Hunter, R. E. Heinrich & D. B. Weishampel - 2010.
In Depth Dinailurictis is so similar to another nimravid called Quercylurus that it has actually been considered to be a synonym to it. Also like with Quercylurus, Dinailurictis has also been considered to be a synonym to Nimravus, the type genus of the Nimravidae. However not all researchers are convinced by these ideas, one reason … Read more
In Depth Damalborea is a genus of alcelaphine bovid that lived in Africa during the Pliocene. As an alcelaphine Damalborea would have loosely resembled modern day wildebeest and hartebeest. Further Reading – Chapter 38: Bovidae by Alan W. Gentry. In Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. pp. 747–803 - L. Werdelin & W. … Read more
In Depth Oklatheridium is a genus of deltatheroidan mammal that lived in North America during the Cretaceous. Further Reading - Earliest Evidence of Deltatheroida (Mammalia: Metatheria) from the Early Cretaceous of North America. Mammalian Evolutionary Morphology: A Tribute to Frederick S. Szalay 3-24. - B. M. Davis, R. L. Cifelli & Z. Kielan-Jaworowska - 2008.