Teratodontidae

Not to be confused with Tetraodontidae or Teratodinae.

Teratodontidae Temporal range: 49.3–8.8  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Eocene - Late Miocene
lower jaw of Brychotherium ephalmos
skull of Masrasector nananubis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	† Hyaenodonta
Superfamily:	† Hyainailouroidea
Family:	† Teratodontidae Savage, 1965 [1]
Subfamily:	† Teratodontinae Savage, 1965 [1]
Type genus
† Teratodon Savage, 1965
Genera
[see text]

Teratodontidae ("monstrous teeth") is a family of extinct predatory mammals within the polyphyletic superfamily Hyainailouroidea within extinct order Hyaenodonta. Fossil remains of these mammals are known from Middle Eocene to Late Miocene deposits in Africa and Asia. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Etymology

The name of the family translates as "monstrous teeth" (from Ancient Greek τέρας (téras) 'monster', from Ancient Greek ὀδών (odon) 'tooth' and taxonomic suffix "-idae".

Classification and phylogeny

Taxonomy

Family: †Teratodontinae(Savage, 1965) Subfamily: †Teratodontinae(Savage, 1965) Genus: † Anasinopa (Savage, 1965) †Anasinopa haasi(Tchernov, 1987) †Anasinopa leakeyi(Savage, 1965) †Anasinopa libyca(Morales, Brewer & Pickford, 2010) [6] †Anasinopa napaki(Savage 1965) Genus: † Brychotherium (Borths, 2016) †Brychotherium atrox(Holroyd, 1994) †Brychotherium ephalmos(Borths, 2016) Genus: † Masrasector (Simons & Gingerich, 1974) †Masrasector aegypticum(Simons & Gingerich, 1974) †Masrasector ligabuei(Crochet, 1990) †Masrasector nananubis(Borths & Seiffert, 2017) †Masrasector pithecodacos(Holroyd, 1994) Genus: † Metasinopa (Osborn, 1909) †Metasinopa ethiopica(Andrews, 1906) †Metasinopa fraasii(Osborn, 1909) †Metasinopa osborni(Holroyd, 1994) †Metasinopa sp. [DPC 4544 & DPC 10199] (Matthew, 2017) Tribe: † Dissopsalini (Morales & Pickford, 2017) Genus: † Buhakia (Morlo, 2007) †Buhakia hyaenoides(Morales, 2003) †Buhakia moghraensis(Morlo, 2007) †Buhakia sp. I [Karungu, Kenya] (Savage, 1965) †Buhakia sp. II [GSN GT VI 22’17] (Morales & Pickford, 2017) Genus: † Dissopsalis (Pilgrim, 1910) †Dissopsalis carnifex(Pilgrim, 1910) †Dissopsalis pyroclasticus(Savage, 1965) Tribe: † Teratodontini (Savage, 1965) Genus: † Teratodon (Savage, 1965) †Teratodon enigmae(Savage, 1965) †Teratodon spekei(Savage, 1965) †Teratodon sp. [DPC 8999] (Morlo, 2007) Incertae sedis : †Teratodontinae sp. [BC 2’08] (Pickford, 2008) †Teratodontinae sp. [CBI-1-614] (Solé, 2016) †Teratodontinae sp. [Locality BQ-2, Fayum, Egypt] (Al-Ashqar, 2023)

References

1. Savage, R. J. G. (1965). "Fossil Mammals of Africa: 19 The Miocene Carnivora of East Africa". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology. 10 (8): 241–316.
2. Matthew R. Borths; Nancy J. Stevens (2017). "The first hyaenodont from the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation of Tanzania: Paleoecological insights into the Paleogene-Neogene carnivore transition". PLOS ONE. 12 (10): e0185301. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1285301B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185301 . PMC   5636082 . PMID   29020030.
3. Borths, Matthew R.; Seiffert, Erik R. (2017). "Craniodental and humeral morphology of a new species of Masrasector (Teratodontinae, Hyaenodonta, Placentalia) from the late Eocene of Egypt and locomotor diversity in hyaenodonts". PLOS ONE. 12 (4): e0173527. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1273527B. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173527 . PMC   5396875 . PMID   28422967.
4. Friscia, Anthony R.; Macharwas, Mathew; Muteti, Samuel; Ndiritu, Francis; Tab Rasmussen, D. (2020). "A Transitional Mammalian Carnivore Community from the Paleogene–Neogene Boundary in Northern Kenya". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (5): e1833895. Bibcode:2020JVPal..40E3895F. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1833895. S2CID   228844419.
5. Flink, T.; Cote, S.; et al. (March 2021). "The neurocranium of Ekweeconfractus amorui gen. et sp. nov. (Hyaenodonta, Mammalia) and the evolution of the brain in some hyaenodontan carnivores". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 41 (2): e1927748. Bibcode:2021JVPal..41E7748F. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2021.1927748 . S2CID   237518007.
6. Morales, J.; Brewer, P.; Pickford, M. (2010). "Carnivores (Creodonta and Carnivora) from the basal middle Miocene of Gebel Zelten, Libya, with a note on a large amphicyonid from the middle Miocene of Ngorora, Kenya". Bulletin of the Tethys Geological Society, Cairo. 5: 43–54.