Asiavorator Temporal range: | |
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Holotype limb bones of A. gracilis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Genus: | † Asiavorator Spassov & Lange-Badré, 1995 |
Species: | †A. gracilis |
Binomial name | |
†Asiavorator gracilis Matthew & Granger, 1924 | |
Synonyms | |
List
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Asiavorator (meaning "Asian devourer") is an extinct genus of civet-like carnivoran belonging in the family Stenoplesictidae. It was endemic to Asia and lived during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs. [1]
The teeth of Asiavorator suggest that it was omnivorous or more precisely, ranged from hypercarnivorous to mesocarnivorous. [2] [3]
The first remains of Asiavorator to be found were collected in the 1922 field season of the Central Asiatic Expeditions near the Loh campsite in Övörkhangai Province, Mongolia. This locality is part of the Hsanda Gol Formation. The specimens, designated AMNH 19123, included limb bones and lower teeth. Matthew and Granger (1924) described AMNH 19123 as the type specimen of a new carnivoran species they named Palaeoprionodon gracilis. [4]
The genus Asiavorator was erected by Spassov and Lange-Badré in 1995 as a monotypic genus for their new species A. altidens, with the type specimen of A. altidens being a mandible (FM 487-95) from the Hsanda Gol Formation. [5] Dashzeveg (1996) described a new species of stenoplesictid, Stenoplesictis simplex, based on a mandible (PSS 27-25) from the Ergilin Dzo Formation of Mongolia. [6] In 1998, Hunt reassigned S. simplex to the genus Shandgolictis , renaming it Shandgolictis simplex and assigning it to Aeluroidea. [7]
Later authors found that Asiavorator altidens and Palaeoprionodon gracilis were synonymous and represent a distinct genus, thus the two were synonymized as Asiavorator gracilis, retaining the specific name of the latter and the generic name of the former. A re-examination by Egi et al. (2016) found that the tooth measurements of PSS 27-25 are not notably different from those of AMNH 19123, thus concluding that Stenoplesictis simplex and Shandgolictis simplex are junior synonyms of Asiavorator gracilis. Currently, A. gracilis is the only accepted species in the genus. [8]
Using the carnivoran regression on the specimen PSS 21-25, Asiavorator has been estimated to have a body mass of 3.6 to 5.6 kg. This is larger than Alagtsavbaatar , a feliform known to have been sympatric with Asiavorator, whose body mass has been estimated at 2.6 to 3.6 kg. [8]
Like many other carnivorous mammals, Asiavorator has long and sharp-pointed canine teeth, presumably used in killing prey. The upper and lower canines were approximately equal in length. The carnassial resembles that of a cat, being compressed and possessing a vestigial heel and reduced metaconid. The first upper molar is very elongated, measuring 10 mm long and 4.5 mm wide in the specimen PSS 27-25. An obtuse angle is formed by the shearing edges of the protoconid and paraconid, while the well-developed metaconid is placed against the internal posterior side of the protoconid. The base of the crown has a cingulum on the external side. The second molar is bunodont, and possesses two roots and a flattened trigonid of three low cusps and a trenchant heel. The fourth premolar is large and compressed, similar to the condition seen in domestic cats. [4] [6]
Asiavorator had a well-developed masseteric fossa and a thin mandible. The mandibular corpus has a prominent lower edge below the molars. Below the first molar, the mandibular ramus of the specimen PSS 27-25 measures 13.4 mm in height and 5.6 mm in width. [6]
The limb bones of Asiavorator were slender and long. At its distal end, the humerus expanded transversely with a strong epicondylar bridge. The ulna was wide, and at the proximal half of the shaft it was flattened, whereas the distal half was triangular, though significantly less so than the slender radius in sectional area. Asiavorator had long and slender metatarsals, and the first metatarsal bone was vestigial or absent. The calcaneum lacks a fibular facet. The talus bone possessed deep and narrow trochlea, with a well-developed inner crest. [4]
In the original description of the holotype, Matthew and Granger (1924) assigned the species to the genus Palaeoprionodon as P. gracilis, referring it to the European genus based on similarities in the dentition and proportions of the limbs, though they did clarify that this referral is provisional until the dentition is better known. [4]
The referred mandible PSS 27-25 was described as a new species, Stenoplesictis simplex, by Dashzeveg (1996). The author placed S. simplex in the family Viverridae following Hunt (1989), which listed the Stenoplesictinae as a probable subfamily of viverrids. [6] [9] This subfamily would later be elevated to family level and renamed Stenoplesictidae. The placement of S. simplex in the genus Stenoplesictis was refuted by Peigné and de Bonis (1999) based on the dentition, though they did not assign the species to another genus. However, they did note that the type specimens of "Palaeoprionodon" gracilis and "Stenoplesictis" simplex were very similar, and that this species likely belonged in the same lineage as "Stenoplesictis" indigenus (later renamed Alagtsavbaatar indigenus). [10]
Spassov and Lange-Badré (1995) did not assign Asiavorator to any family in their description of the genus, placing it as Feliformia incertae sedis. [5] Egi et al. (2016) made the same taxonomic placement for the genus, though they do state that the Mongolian small feliforms (Asiavorator, Alagtsavbaatar and Shandgolictis ) appear to form a monophyletic clade relative to the European genera Stenoplesictis , Palaeoprionodon and Haplogale , which independently evolved hypercarnivory. They state this clade is a sister taxon to the extant Feliformia excluding the Nandiniidae. [8]
The oldest known fossils of Asiavorator originate from the late Eocene-aged Ergilin Dzo Formation of Mongolia, suggesting the genus first evolved during the Ergilian age. Sedimentary analyses suggest the Ergilin Dzo Formation was a floodplain environment with a braided stream network formed by fluvial systems. [11] In this environment, sympatric predators included the nimravids Nimravus and Eofelis , the entelodontid Entelodon , and the related stenoplesictid Alagtsavbaatar . [8] [12]
Most known specimens of Asiavorator were found in the Hsanda Gol Formation, which is dated to around 33.4 to 31 million years ago (early Oligocene). This formation is believed to have been deposited in an open, semi-arid steppe environment with playa lakes and ephemeral rivers. [13] Many types of small mammals would have coexisted with Asiavorator in this habitat, such as several rodent species, the lagomorph Desmatolagus and the erinaceid Palaeoscaptor . [14] [15] Sympatric predators included several species of Hyaenodon , the feliforms Shandgolictis , Nimravus and Palaeogale , the amphicynodontids Amphicynodon and Amphicticeps , and the didymoconids Didymoconus and Ergilictis . [16] Herbivorous mammals were also present, such as the gelocid Pseudogelocus , the largest of these being the hornless rhinocerotoid Paraceratheriumtransouralicum. [17] [18]
Proailurus is an extinct felid genus that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 25-30.8 million years ago in the Late Oligocene and Miocene. Fossils have been found in Mongolia, Germany, and Spain.
Embolotherium is an extinct genus of brontothere that lived in Mongolia during the late Eocene epoch. It is most easily recognized by a large bony protuberance emanating from the anterior (front) of the skull. This resembles a battering ram, hence the name Embolotherium. The animal is known from about 12 skulls, several jaws, and a variety of other skeletal elements from the Ulan Gochu formation of Inner Mongolia as well as the Ergilin Dzo Formation of Outer Mongolia.
Cynodictis is an extinct amphicyonid carnivoran which inhabited Eurasia from the Late Eocene subepoch to the Early Oligocene subepoch living from 37.2 to 28.4 million years ago, existing for approximately 8.8 million years.
Hyaenodon ("hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from extinct tribe Hyaenodontini within extinct subfamily Hyaenodontinae, that lived in Eurasia and North America from the middle Eocene, throughout the Oligocene, to the early Miocene.
Tsaganomys altaicus is an extinct species of rodent from Asia, and the only species in the genus Tsaganomys.
The Tsaganomyidae are an extinct family of rodents from Asia. It contains three genera. Tsaganomyids are generally considered to be related to the Hystricognathi. Members of Tsaganomyidae were fossorial (digging) rodents that probably used their incisor teeth to dig like some living mole rats.
Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats, hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Caniformia.
Dinaelurus is a genus of the Nimravidae, an extinct family of feliform mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". Assigned to the subfamily Nimravinae, Dinaelurus was endemic to North America during the Oligocene epoch, existing for approximately 10.2 million years.
Stenoplesictidae is the name of a polyphyletic family of extinct civet-like feliforms.
Brachyhyops is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl mammal that lived during the Eocene Epoch of western North America and southeastern Asia. The first fossil remains of Brachyhyops are recorded from the late Eocene deposits of Beaver Divide in central Wyoming and discovered by paleontology crews from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History during the early 20th century. The type species, Brachyhyops wyomingensis, is based on a single skull and was named by E.H. Colbert in 1937, but was not officially described until 1938. During the latter half of the 20th century, additional specimens from North America have been recorded from Saskatchewan and as far south as Texas, indicating that Brachyhyops had a broad distribution and was well-dispersed throughout western North America.
Anictis is an extinct species of carnivorous cat-like mammal belonging to the infraorder Aeluroidea, endemic to Europe living from the Oligocene 33.9—28.4 Ma, existing for approximately 5.4 million years.
Stenoplesictis is an extinct genus of carnivorous cat-like mammals belonging to the infraorder Aeluroidea, from Europe and Asia (Mongolia), from the Oligocene 33.9—28.4 Ma, existing for about 5.5 million years.
Palaeogale is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal known from the Late Eocene, Oligocene, and Early Miocene of North America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. A small carnivore often associated with the mustelids, Palaeogale might have been similar to living genets, civets, and linsangs.
The Hsanda Gol Formation is a geological formation located in the Tsagan Nor Basin of central Mongolia that dates to the Rupelian age of the Oligocene epoch. It formed in continental desert-like conditions and is notable for its fossil mammals, first excavated by Roy Chapman Andrews and the American Museum of Natural History in the 1920s. Hsanda Gol is included in the Hsandagolian Asian Land Mammal Age, to which it gives its name.
Amphicynodontidae is a probable clade of extinct arctoids. While some researchers consider this group to be an extinct subfamily of bears, a variety of morphological evidence links amphicynodontines with pinnipeds, as the group were semi-aquatic otter-like mammals. In addition to the support of the pinniped–amphicynodontine clade, other morphological and some molecular analyses support bears being the closest living relatives to pinnipeds. According to McKenna and Bell (1997) Amphicynodontinae are classified as stem-pinnipeds in the superfamily Phocoidea. Fossils of these mammals have been found in Europe, North America and Asia. Amphicynodontines should not be confused with Amphicyonids (bear-dogs), a separate family of Carnivora which is a sister clade to arctoids within the caniforms, but which may be listed as a clade of extinct arctoids in older publications.
Apterodontinae is an extinct subfamily of hyainailourid hyaenodonts that lived in Africa and Europe during the late Eocene to middle Oligocene.
Amphicticeps is an extinct genus of small, weasel-like carnivoran mammal. It lived in Mongolia during the Oligocene. The genus was erected in 1924 for the species A. shackelfordi on the basis of a well-preserved skull. Historically, the systematic position of this genus has been problematic until more specimens were described decades later.
Alagtsavbaatar is an extinct species of carnivorous cat-like carnivoran belonging to the infraorder Aeluroidea. It was endemic to Asia, with all known specimens being found in Mongolia, and lived during the late Eocene epoch. It is a monotypic genus, with the type and only known species being A. indigenus, and is named after the Alag Tsav locality where its remains were first discovered.
The Ergilin Dzo Formation, is a geologic formation in southeastern Mongolia. It preserves fossils of a wide variety of animals, which date back to the late Eocene epoch. The type fauna of the Ergilian Asian land mammal age is defined by the mammalian fossils of this formation.
Ergilictis is an extinct genus of mammal that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene epochs. It was endemic to Asia, and its fossils have been found in the Ergilin Dzo and Hsanda Gol formations of Mongolia. It belongs to the family Didymoconidae, which has uncertain taxonomic affinities.
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