Sarkastodon

Sar-kas-toe-don.
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Liam Carter

Paleoanthropologist

Liam Carter explores the roots of humanity by studying early human fossils and artifacts. His ground-breaking work has provided a deeper understanding of our ancestors' lifestyles and social structures.

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Name

Sarkastodon ‭(‬Flesh tearing tooth‭)‬.

Phonetic

Sar-kas-toe-don.

Named By

Granger‭ ‬-‭ ‬1938.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Creodonta,‭ ‬Oxyaenidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

S.‭ ‬mongoliensis‭

Size

Reconstructed skull length about 46 centimetres long.

Known locations

Mongolia‭ ‬-‭ ‬Irdin Manha Formation,‭ ‬further material attributed from the Ulan Shireb Beds.

Time Period

Priabonian of the Eocene.

Fossil representation

Skulls and mandibles‭ (‬lower jaws‭)‬.

In Depth

       Not too much is known about Sarkastodon because so far‭ ‬as‭ ‬only the skull and jaw are known for certain.‭ ‬The size and construction of these skulls however strongly suggest that in life Sarkastodon would have been a very large,‭ ‬powerful animal and is often likened to being like a bear.‭ ‬Like many other creodonts,‭ ‬Sarkastodon had robust canine teeth for seizing prey,‭ ‬and sharp pre-molars for slicing flesh.‭ ‬With this in mind it would seem that Sarkastodon‭ ‬was a hypercarnivore‭ (‬an animal that almost it not exclusively eats nothing but meat‭)‬,‭ ‬using its teeth to cut bite sized chunks of flesh and the strength of its jaws‭ (‬amplified by the short muzzle that increased the efficiency of the muscles by holding bones nearer the fulcrum of the jaws‭) ‬to crush bones.

       Sarkastodon would have been one of the more powerful predators of its day,‭ ‬but eventually the creodonts,‭ ‬the group it belonged too,‭ ‬would lose out to newer predators such as the amphicyonids,‭ ‬better known as‭ ‘‬bear dogs‭’‬.

Further Reading

– A giant oxyaenid from the upper Eocene of Mongolia. – American Museum Novitates 969. – W. Granger – 1938.

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