Hapalodectes

Hapalodectes
Temporal range: Late Paleocene–Early Eocene
Hapalodectes serus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Mesonychia
Family: Hapalodectidae
Genus: Hapalodectes
Species

See text

Hapalodectes (literally "soft biter"; ἁπαλός, hapalos = "soft, tender", δῆκτῆς, dêktês = "biter") is an extinct genus of otter-like mesonychids from the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene some 55 million years ago. Although the first fossils were found in Eocene strata of Wyoming, the genus originated in Mongolia, as the oldest species is H. dux, which was found in Late Paleocene strata in the Naran Bulak Formation.[1]

The genus was once suggested to be related to the Archaeoceti, such as Pakicetus, due to numerous similarities between the skull and teeth anatomies of the two genera. Now, however, Hapalodectes and other mesonychians are thought to be related to basal artiodactyls, while the Archaeoceti are now determined to be descended from more derived artiodactyls, like Indohyus, which are related to hippopotamuses and anthracotheres.

Species

  • Genus Hapalodectes
    • H. anthracinus Zhou et Gingerich, 1991
    • H. dux Lopatin, 1999
    • H. hetangensis Ting et Li, 1987
    • H. huanghaiensis Tong et Wang, 2006
    • H. leptognathus Osborn et Wortman, 1892
    • H. lopatini Solé et al., 2017
    • H. paleocenus Beard et al., 2010
    • H. serus Matthew et Granger, 1925

References

  1. ↑ "The Earliest Hapalodectes (Mesonychia, Mammalia) from the Paleocene of Mongolia". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved August 2013. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)


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