Bastetodon

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Bastetodon
Temporal range: Early Oligocene (Rupelian), ~30  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order:† Hyaenodonta
Family:† Hyainailouridae
Subfamily:† Hyainailourinae
Genus:† Bastetodon
Al-Ashqar et al., 2025
Species:
†B. syrtos
Binomial name
†Bastetodon syrtos
(Holroyd, 1999)
Synonyms
  • Pterodon syrtos(Holroyd, 1999)

Bastetodon (meaning "Bastet tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous hyaenodont mammal from the Early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt. The genus contains single species, B. syrtos, which was originally assigned to the genus Pterodon . It was a medium-sized hyaenodont, with an estimated body mass ranging around 18–36 kg (40–79 lb). [1]

Contents

Discovery and naming

In 1999, paleontologist Patricia A. Holroyd described a partial right maxilla from 'Quarry M' of the Jebel Qatrani Formation near the Faiyum Oasis of Egypt as belonging to a new species of Pterodon, P. syrtos. The specific name, syrtos, is a Greek word meaning "carried along by a stream", referencing the preservation of the holotype in a point bar depositional environment. [2]

In 2025, Al-Ashqar and colleagues revised the record of African species assigned to Pterodon, a historic wastebasket taxon. As in previous analyses, they observed that the species referred to this genus form a polyphyletic assemblage. [3] [4] Based on a more recently-collected complete skull from 'Quarry I', they established a new genus, Bastetodon, for "P." syrtos. The generic name combines a reference to Bastet—a cat-headed goddess from Ancient Egyptian mythology associated with protection, pleasure, and good health—with the Greek suffix "-odon", meaning "tooth". The authors' intended translation is "teeth like the cat-headed goddess". [1]

Classification

Using an expanded matrix from previous phylogenetic analyses, [5] Al-Ashqar et al. (2025) recovered "P." syrtos as the sister taxon to the smaller and roughly coeval Falcatodon within the hyaenodontan subfamily Hyainailourinae. [6] Their results are displayed in the cladogram below: [1]

Hyainailourinae

Description

Size

The body mass of hyaenodonts is problematic as the sister-taxon of the order remains unresolved. The body mass of Bastetodon was based on Van Valkenburgh (1990) regression of total skull length (SKL) and the distance from the orbital condyles to the anterior orbit (OOL). Based on the regressions, Bastetodon could’ve weighed 18–36 kg (40–79 lb), based on OOL and SKL respectively, with a mean body mass of 27 kg (60 lb). [1]

Skull

The skull of Bastetodon was not only the most complete of any hyaenodont from the Jebel Qatrani Formation, but also the most best preserved of any Paleogene Afro-Arabian hypercarnivore. [1]

Paleobiology and paleoecology

Predatory behavior

The long, shearing metastyles and the reduced and mesially shifted protocones suggests Bastetodon had a hypercarnivorous diet. The loss of P1 and M3 suggests Bastetodon also had a powerful bite force. [1]

Paleoecology

Bastetodon was found within the Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt of the Early Oligocene. [1] [2] It was thought to have been a subtropical to tropical swamp being comparable to that of freshwater habitats in Central Africa. [7] Based on sediments, there was likely a river system of channels that emptied west towards the Tethys. The climate was likely seasonal, and potentially monsoonal. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Al-Ashqar, Shorouq F.; Borths, Matthew; El-Desouky, Heba; Heritage, Steven; Abed, Mohamed; Seiffert, Erik R.; El-Sayed, Sanaa; Sallam, Hesham M. (2025-02-16). "Cranial anatomy of the hypercarnivore Bastetodon syrtos gen. nov. (Hyaenodonta, Hyainailourinae) and a reevaluation of Pterodon in Africa". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 44 (3). e2442472. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2442472. ISSN   0272-4634.
  2. 1 2 Holroyd, Patricia A. (1999-08-20). "New Pterodontinae (Creodonta: Hyaenodontidae) from the late Eocene-early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt". PaleoBios. 19 (2): 1–18.
  3. ↑ Zack, Shawn P. (2019). Wilf, Peter; Taylor, Michael (eds.). "The first North American Propterodon (Hyaenodonta: Hyaenodontidae), a new species from the late Uintan of Utah". PeerJ . 7 e8136. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8136 . PMC   6876642 . PMID   31772846.
  4. ↑ Borths, Matthew R.; Stevens, Nancy J. (2019-01-02). "Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, gen. et sp. nov. (Hyainailourinae, Hyaenodonta, 'Creodonta,' Mammalia), a gigantic carnivore from the earliest Miocene of Kenya". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 39 (1) e1570222. Bibcode:2019JVPal..39E0222B. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1570222. ISSN   0272-4634.
  5. ↑ Solé, Floréal; Morlo, Michael; Schaal, Tristan; Lehmann, Thomas (2021). "New hyaenodonts (Mammalia) from the late Ypresian locality of Prémontré (France) support a radiation of the hyaenodonts in Europe already at the end of the early Eocene". Geobios . 66–67: 119–141. Bibcode:2021Geobi..66..119S. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2021.02.004. S2CID   234848856.
  6. ↑ Morales, Jorge; Pickford, Martin (2017). "New hyaenodonts (Ferae, Mammalia) from the Early Miocene of Napak (Uganda), Koru (Kenya) and Grillental (Namibia)" (PDF). Fossil Imprint. 73 (3–4): 332–359. doi:10.2478/if-2017-0019. S2CID   31350436.
  7. ↑ Rasmussen, D.T.; Olson, S.L.; Simons, E.L. (1987). "Fossil birds from the Oligocene Jebel Qatrani formation Fayum Province, Egypt". Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. 62 (62): 1–20. doi:10.5479/si.00810266.62.1.
  8. ↑ Rasmussen, D. T.; Simons, E.L.; Hertel, F.; Judd, A. (2001). "Hindlimb of a giant terrestrial bird from the upper Eocene, Fayum, Egypt" . Palaeontology. 44 (2): 325–337. Bibcode:2001Palgy..44..325R. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00182. S2CID   130033734.
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