Harpagolestes
Temporal range:
Skull of H. immanis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Mesonychia
Family: †Mesonychidae
Genus: †Harpagolestes
Species
  • H. immanis
  • H. koreanicus
  • H. orientalis
  • H. uintensis
  • H. macrocephalus
  • H. brevipes
  • H. leotensis

Harpagolestes ("hooked thief") is an extinct genus of hyena like, bear sized mesonychid mesonychian that lived in Central and Eastern Asia and western and central North America during the middle to late Eocene.

Description

Jaw

Harpagolestes was a large animal, with a skull length of a half a meter in some species.[1] Fossil specimens have been recovered in the United States, Canada, Mongolia, China, and at least one species in Korea. Harpagolestes exhibits strong, curved canine teeth, a deep lower jaw, massive skull, and heavy wear on the molars. This along with stout limb bones suggest that Harpagolestes was a scavenger and did not pursue its prey. The wear on the molars suggests it regularly cracked bones.[1] However, poorly known Korean Harpagolestes koreanicus could have been an active hunter due to its narrow, long and sharp lower molars.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 N. N. Kramarenko (1974). Зоогеография палеогена Азии (Zoogeography of Paleogene of Asia). Publishing office "Nauka". p. 113. Retrieved 18 September 2022.


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