In Depth Aguascalientia was a miniature camel that lived across the southern portions of the continent of North America, though it was not one of the ‘true’ camels that we know today. Its small size displays well how many of today’s larger mammals from camels to horses to even elephants had very humble beginnings in … Read more
In Depth A relative of the more famous Diprotodon, Zygomaturus was another of the exceptionally large wombats that once roamed around Australia. As a genus Zygomaturus has been envisioned as preferring to live around waterways such as rivers and lakes where they could browse upon the aquatic plants that grew around the water’s edge. Like … Read more
In Depth Akidolestes displays a number of features which are seen in monotreme mammals, including a similar pubis and the presence of cervical ribs. However, other observations of the holotype specimen mean that there is no doubt that Akidolestes was a spalacotheriid mammal. The monotreme-like features are probably convergent features or traits from an ancestral … Read more
In Depth Attockicetus was a remingtonocetid whale that lived in Pakistan during the Eocene. The known partial remains of the genus make reconstructing Attockicetus difficult, however the genus is expected to have been similar to its relatives Remingtonocetus, Andrewsiphius and Kutchicetus. Further Reading - Attockicetus praecursor, a new remingtonocetid cetacean from marine Eocene sediments of … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – On Megaladapis madagascariensis, an Extinct Gigantic Lemuroid from Madagascar; with Remarks on the Associated Fauna, and on Its Geological Age. – Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 185: 15–38. – C. I. F. major -1894. – Extinct Mammalia from Madagascar. I. Megaladapis insignis. – Philosophical Transactions of … Read more
In Depth Although fossil remains form China have been attributed to Sansanosmilus (for the species S. palmidans), most of the currently known fossils come from Europe. This would suggest that the highest population density for Sansanosmilus was in Europe, however caution should be used before coming to this conclusion since fossil deposits of certain times … Read more
In Depth Toxodon was a large herbivorous mammal that was similar in proportion to a rhinoceros, but also possessed other features that were similar to hippopotamuses and possibly even elephants. The post cranial skeleton has a very robust construction which suggests that in life Toxodon was a very heavy animal. The feet were plantigrade which … Read more
In Depth During the Pleistocene Australia had a variety of animals that loosely resembled those still living today but on a much grander scale, from giant three meter long wombats like Diprotodon to four meter plus goannas like Varanus priscus. Procoptodon for its part was essentially a giant kangaroo, although its full size has been … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Taxonomy and palaeobiology of the largest-ever marsupial, Diprotodon Owen, 1838 (Diprotodontidae, Marsupialia) – Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 153 (2): 369–397 – G. J. Price – 2006. – Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction – Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the … Read more
In Depth Paressonodon is a genus of multituberculatan mammal that lived in the USA during the late Cretaceous. Further Reading - New Late Cretaceous mammals from northeastern Colorado with biochronologic and biogeographic implications. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (2): 499–520. - Gregory P. Wilson, Marieke Dechesne & Ingrid R. Anderson - 2010.