Hemipsalodon

Hemipsalodon Temporal range: 41.2–37.0  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Middle to Late Eocene
Skull of Hemipsalodon grandis
Restoration of H. grandis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	† Hyaenodonta
Superfamily:	† Hyainailouroidea
Family:	† Hyainailouridae
Subfamily:	† Hyainailourinae
Genus:	† Hemipsalodon Cope, 1885
Type species
†Hemipsalodon grandis Cope, 1885
Species
†H. grandis(Cope, 1885) [1] †H. viejaensis(Gustafson, 1986) [2]
Synonyms
synonyms of species: H. grandis: Hemipsalodon cooki(Schlaikjer, 1935) [3]

Hemipsalodon ("half-scissor tooth") is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts from the subfamily Hyainailourinae that lived in North America during the middle to late Eocene. ^{[4] [5]}

Description

The skull of Hemipsalodon grandis is 45 centimetres (18 in) in length, with a lower jaw length of 34 centimetres (13 in). The most complete skull (O.M.S.I. No. 619), belonged to an old individual. It is powerfully-built, and overall superficially resembles the mesonychid Harpagolestes . The nasal opening is quite large. The canines are greatly enlarged. The anterior portion of the skull is broad anteriorly, but narrows down considerably posteriorly. ^[6]

References

1. E. D. Cope (1885.) "The White River beds of Swift Current River, Northwest Territory." American Naturalist 19(2):163
2. E. P. Gustafson (1986.) "Carnivorous mammals of the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene of Trans-Pecos Texas." Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin 33:1-66
3. Schlaikjer, Erich M. (1935). "Contributions to the stratigraphy and paleontology of the Goshen Hole area, Wyoming. III. A new basal Oligocene formation". Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. 76 (3): 71–93.
4. McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   978-0-231-11012-9 . Retrieved 16 March 2015.
5. G. F. Gunnell (1998.) "Creodonta". In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals", Cambridge University Press, 703 pages Hemipsalodon
6. Mellett, James Silvan (1969). "A skull of Hemipsalodon (Mammalia, Deltatheridia) from the Clarno Formation of Oregon". American Museum Novitates (2387). hdl:2246/2597.