In Depth Paramylodon acquired its name from its close similarity to another ground sloth called Mylodon. This close similarity has led to questions as to if they are actually separate genera since the original defining characteristic of the two genera having a different dental formulae is today no longer considered enough because the numbers of … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – Preliminary report on a recently discovered Pleistocene cave deposit near Cumberland, Maryland. – J. W. Gidley – 1913. – Phylogenetic systematics of the North American fossil Caninae (Carnivora, Canidae) – Richard H. Tedford, Xiaoming Wang, Beryl E. Taylor – 2009.
In Depth Castoroides is another example of how back in the Pleistocene animals were just bigger than they were today. Also known as the ‘giant beaver’, Castoroides is not just the largest beaver that we currently know about, but it is the largest rodent known to have ever lived on the North American continent. At … Read more
In Depth Although not very well known, Turkanapithecus appears to be similar to other prehistoric primates like Proconsul and Afropithecus. Turkanapithecus is named after the Turkana Lake region of Kenya, with the type species name meaning ‘from Kalakol’ after the Kalakol river where it was found. Further Reading – A second new Miocene hominoid from … Read more
In Depth Kimbetopsalis is a genus of multituberculatan mammal that lived in the USA not long after the asteroid impact that marked the KT extinction that ended the reign of the dinosaurs. Kimbetopsalis has been identified as a member of the Multituberculata due to the large number of cusps that are clearly visible upon the … Read more
In Depth Gobiatherium is the type genus of its own specific group of uintatheres, the Gobiatheriinae. This is because Gobiatherium lacks the skull horns and tusks that are common features in it relatives, though Gobiatherium still retains some distinguishing characteristics of its own. These include well developed cheek bones and an expanded nasal area where … Read more
In Depth Named in 2014, not much can be said about Surameryx because the genus has been named from just a lower left jaw. However, by being recovered from a late Miocene aged deposit, we do know that the presence of Surameryx in South America is a rare example of a mammal with North American … Read more
In Depth Further Reading – On some of the characters of the Miocene fauna of Oregon. – Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 18(102):63-78. – E. D. Cope – 1878. – Taxonomy and distribution of Daeodon, an Oligocene-Miocene entelodont (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) from North America. – Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 111 (2): 425–435. … Read more
In Depth Guiomys is a genus of caviomorph rodent that lived in South America during the Miocene. As a caviomorph mammal, Guiomys is related to modern day capybaras, chinchillas and guinea pigs. Further Reading - A new rodent (Cavioidea, Hystricognathi) from the middle Miocene of Patagonia, mandibular homologies, and the origin of the crown group … Read more
In Depth Bolodon is a genus of mammal that lived during the early Cretaceous. Further Reading - Fossil Mammalia of the Mesozoic formations. Palaeontographical Society Monographs 24(110):1-115. - Richard Owen - 1871. - A Catalogue of the Mesozoic Mammalia in the Geological Department of the British Museum 1-215. - G. G. Simpson - 1928. - … Read more