Ekweeconfractus
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Hyaenodonta
Superfamily: †Hyainailouroidea
Family: †Teratodontidae
Subfamily: †Teratodontinae
Genus: †Ekweeconfractus
Flink et al., 2021
Type species
†Ekweeconfractus amorui
Flink et al., 2021

Ekweeconfractus ("broken fox")[1] is an extinct genus of teratodontine hyaenodont known from 17 million year old deposits at the Moruorot site in Kenya.

The genus contains only a single known species, Ekweeconfractus amorui. The full scientific name of type species translates as "broken fox of stone". Known from a single skull with an intact cranium, it is estimated to have weighed around 15 kilograms (33 lb), similar in size to a large fox. The researchers who described and named the fossil were able to conduct a CT scan of the cranial cavity, revealing that the animal had a comparatively large neocortex for the overall size of its brain, and an estimated encephalisation quotient of 0.54, similar to that of other contemporary African hyaenodonts, but lower than that of Hyaenodon.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 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.
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