In Depth Palaeomastodon is widely regarded as being one of the ancestors to modern day elephants. Remains of Palaeomastodon are usually just of skull and mandible fossils, but already the presence of two tusks in the upper jaw and attachment for a trunk can be clearly seen. Unfortunately no one knows exactly how long the … Read more
In Depth With its oversized front teeth Thylacosmilus appears to be very similar to sabre toothed cats like Smilodon. The key difference between these two types of animal is that the sabre toothed cats were placental mammals, which means that young developed while connected to a placenta via an umbilical cord while remaining inside the … Read more
In Depth With three pairs of short blunt horns on top its skull and two tusks that pointed down from the upper jaw, Eobasileus looked remarkably similar to its close relative Uintatherium (which is why unsurprisingly it is a member of the Uintatheriidae). With an upper size comparable to that of a large black rhinoceros … Read more
In Depth For most of its history Hyracotherium has been associated with the genus Eohippus (dawn horse) that was based upon fossils described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1876. This is mostly due to the commonplace presentation of the name Eohippus towards the public and subsequent mention in fiction, the pinnacle of which was the … Read more
In Depth Edworthia is a very primitive genus of primate that lived in Canada during the Palaeocene, the geological time period that occurred just after the dinosaurs went extinct. Further Reading - Edworthia lerbekmoi, a new primitive paromomyid primate from the Torrejonian (early Paleocene) of Alberta, Canada. - Journal of Paleontology 84(5):868-878. - R. C. … Read more
In Depth As a barbourofelid Ginsburgsmilus is more popularly known as a ‘false sabre-toothed cat’ since the Barbourofelidae are not thought to related to modern cats of today beyond the fact that they are all members of the Carnivora. As such Ginsburgsmilus is related to other members of the Barbourofelidae such as Sansanosmilus, Prosansanosmilus, Afrosmilus … Read more
In Depth The name Dinocrocuta translates to English as ‘terrible hyena’, with ‘dino meaning terrible and the ‘crocuta’ part being a reference to the Crocuta genus which is home to modern hyenas that we can see alive today. This is born out of a superficial similarity in physical form between modern hyenas and Dinocrocuta, however … Read more
In Depth One of the daphoenine bear dogs that are so far exclusive to North America, Daphoenictis was similar to the type genus of this group Daphoenus. Although definitely a bear dog, Daphoenictis fossils bear a resemblance to cats, something leading to the name Daphoenictis which translates as ‘Daphoenus cat’. Daphoenictis seems to have shared … Read more
In Depth Originally named after a species of Anchitherium, Hypohippus was a primitive three toed horse that browsed upon vegetation rather than grazing on grass. Hypohippus acquired its name from the low middle cusp of its molars. As a browser the teeth had proportionately lower crowns than the teeth of grazing horses. Hypohippus would have … Read more
In Depth Hulitherium is a genus of diprotodont wombat that lived in New guinea during the Pleistocene. Not much is known about Hulitherium, though the arm structure suggests that this genus was significantly more mobile than other diprotodonts. Further Reading Further reading- A new late Pleistocene diprotodontid (Marsupialia) from Pureni, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New … Read more