The Mustelidae are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids are a diverse group and form the largest family in the order Carnivora, suborder Caniformia. They comprise about 66–70 species across nine subfamilies.
Morrisonodon brentbaatar is an extinct multituberculate mammal from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of North America.
The Sardinian pika is an extinct species of pika that was endemic to the islands of Sardinia, Corsica and neighbouring Mediterranean islands until its extinction likely in Roman times. Unlike living pikas, which all belong to the genus Ochotona, the Sardinian pika was the last surviving member of the genus Prolagus, a genus of pika once widespread throughout western Eurasia and North Africa during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs.
Gargano is a historical and geographical sub-region in the province of Foggia, Apulia, southeast Italy, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea, the "spur" on the Italian "boot". The high point is Monte Calvo at 1,065 m (3,494 ft). Most of the upland area, about 1,200 km2 (460 sq mi), is part of the Gargano National Park, founded in 1991. In this region since 1978 a feud has been fought between the clans of the Società foggiana.
Mammuthus lamarmorai is a species of mammoth which lived during the late Middle and Upper Pleistocene on the island of Sardinia. M. lamarmorai is a dwarf species, as it is estimated to have reached a shoulder height of only 1.4 m and weighed about 550 kg. This pygmy mammoth has been found mostly in the fine-grained sediments of the western part of the island.
Lutrogale was proposed as generic name by John Edward Gray in 1865 for otters with a convex forehead and nose, using the smooth-coated otter L. perspicillata as type species.
Prolagus is an extinct genus of pika within the order Lagomorpha. Over 20 species of Prolagus have been named, beginning in the Early Miocene in Europe 20 million years ago, where it ranged widely for most of the epoch; by the end of the Middle Pleistocene, it was confined to a single species, the Sardinian pika, on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and surrounding islands, where it survived into historical times. In Africa and Asia, the genus is known from the Miocene and Pliocene. The scientific name may mean "before hares" or "primitive hares".
Cyrnaonyx is an extinct genus of Lutrinae, otters from the Pleistocene. It was originally described by Helbing based on materials from France and he also attributed material from Corsica to it. The latter appeared to belong to another species and genus, Algarolutra majori. The only species of Cyrnaonyx is C. antiqua. It is known from the Pleistocene of Europe: France, Germany, Netherlands, Southern England and probably Italy.
Megalenhydris barbaricina is a Late Pleistocene giant otter from Sardinia. It is known from a single skeleton, discovered in the Grotta di Ispinigoli near Dorgali, and was described in 1987. The species is one of four extinct otter species from Sardinia and Corsica. The others are Algarolutra majori, Lutra castiglionis and Sardolutra ichnusae. This otter was large, possibly even larger than the extant Pteronura, which can reach two meters in length. The structure of the teeth points to a diet of shellfish and/or crustaceans. A special characteristic of the species is the flattening of the first few caudal vertebrae. This might point to a slightly flattened tail.
Sardolutra ichnusae is an extinct species of otter from the Late Pleistocene of Sardinia. It was originally described as Nesolutra ichnusae. It was a rather small species of otter, probably living in the sea. Among its characteristics is a relatively very large baculum, larger than in any living otter. The species probably evolved from a species of Lutra, maybe L. castiglionis.
Thecachampsa is an extinct genus of gavialoid crocodylian, traditionally regarded as a member of the subfamily Tomistominae. Fossils have been found from the eastern United States in deposits of Miocene age. Those named in the 19th century were distinguished primarily by the shape of their teeth, and have since been combined with T. antiquus. More recently erected species were reassigned from other genera, although their assignment to Thecachampsa has since been questioned.
Pascualgnathus is an extinct genus of traversodontid cynodonts from the Middle Triassic of Argentina. Fossils have been found from the Río Seco de la Quebrada Formation of the Puesto Viejo Group. The type species P. polanskii was named in 1966.
Aphaenogaster mersa is an extinct species of ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae known from a pair of Middle Eocene fossils found in Europe. A. mersa is one of three species in the ant genus Aphaenogaster to have been noted from fossils found in Baltic amber by William Morton Wheeler.
Rhagamys is an extinct genus of rodents in the subfamily Murinae, the Old World mice and rats. The genus was established by the Swiss zoologist Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major to accommodate Rhagamys orthodon, commonly known as Hensel's field mouse or the Tyrrhenian field rat, which is the only species in the genus. It was endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia, where it first appeared in the fossil record in the Late Pleistocene, and was relatively large in size, weighing up to 50 g. Its closest living relatives are of the genus Apodemus.
Praemegaceros is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. It contains the subgenera Praemegaceros,Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. It has sometimes been synonymised with Megaloceros and Megaceroides, however they have been found to be generically distinct.
Enhydriodon, known as the bear otter, is an extinct genus of typically large otters that lived in what is now Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Chad, South Africa, and India from the late Miocene up to early Pleistocene. The otter is thought to be a relative of modern-day sea otters. E. omoensis and E. dikikae are described as the largest mustelids to have ever existed, though only fragments of the genus have been found such as the skull, femur, and dental remains in Ethiopia. Multiple estimates put them at about 200 kilograms (440 lb) while E. omoensis was described to be lion-sized, making them the largest mustelids described so far. Most species of the Enhydriodon genus are presumed to be semi-aquatic given most of the fossil isotope values being similar to fossilized semi-aquatic animals like hippopotamuses. The largest species, Enhydriodon omoensis, however, was determined to be a terrestrial predator, capable of hunting herbivorous terrestrial prey. Enhydriodon is part of the bunodont otters group, referring to otter genera with non-bladelike carnassials including the extant Enhydra genus and its extinct relatives that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene.
Enhydrictis is a genus of extinct mustelid, belonging to the subfamily Galictinae. The type species, and best known, is Enhydrictis galictoides from the Pleistocene of Sardinia and Corsica.
Lutra castiglionis, the Castiglione otter or Corsican otter, is an extinct species of otter that was endemic to Corsica during the Pleistocene.
Saxonella is a genus of extinct primate from the Paleocene Epoch, 66-56 Ma. The genus is present in the fossil record from around ~62-57 Ma. Saxonella has been found in fissure fillings in Walbeck, Germany as well as in the Paskapoo Formation in Alberta, Canada. Saxonella is one of five families within the superfamily Plesiadapoidae, which appears in the fossil record from the mid Paleocene to the early Eocene. Analyses of molars by paleontologists suggest that Saxonella most likely had a folivorous diet.
Hegetotheriopsis is an extinct genus of hegetotheriid notoungulate. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains are found in Argentina.
