Stylinodon is an extinct genus of taeniodont mammal, and is the best known, and last genus of taeniodonts, lived some 45 million years ago during middle Eocene in North America.
Stylinodon Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Skull | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Taeniodonta |
Family: | †Stylinodontidae |
Genus: | †Stylinodon Marsh, 1874 |
Type species | |
†Stylinodon mirus | |
Species | |
†Stylinodon inexplicatus |
The skull suggests it had a blunt face, and a very short snout. Species ranged in size from pigs to leopards, reached a body mass of up to 80 kilograms (180 lb). Its canines had developed into huge, incisor-like root-less teeth. Stylinodon's molars were covered in enamel and continued growing throughout its life. Most likely, it fed on rough roots and tubers.[1]
References edit
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 237. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
External links edit
- [1] Photograph of skull at Utah Field House of Natural History Museum, at Vernal, Utah