Palaeos		Laurasiatheria
Vertebrates		Mesonychia

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Laurasiatheria: Mesonychia

Abbreviated Dendrogram

EUTHERIA
|--EUARCHONTAGLIRES
|?--CHIROPTERA
`--LAURASIATHERIA
   |?--INSECTIVORA
   `--Ferungulata
      |--+--FERAE
      |  `--Pholidota
      `--+--+--Phenacodontidae
         |  `--PERISSODACTYLA
        `--Eparctocyona
            |--+--Arctostylopida
            |  `--+--Triisodontidae
            |     `--+--Mesonychia
            |        `--CETARTIODACTYLA  
            `--Bulbulodentata
               |--Hyopsodontidae
               `---MERIDIUNGULATA

Contents

Overview
Laurasiatheria
Ferungulata
Pholidota
Eparctocyona
Mesonychia
Dendrogram
References

Taxa on This Page

Mesonychia X

Descriptions

Mesonychia: Dissacus, Harpagolestes, Mesonyx.

Range: Middle Paleocene to Early Oligocene.

Phylogeny: Eparctocyona :::: Cetartiodactyla + *.

Characters: Medium to large-sized, possibly dominant predators or scavengers of mid-Paleocene. Molars modified to generate vertical shear; lower molars thin and blade-like, with carnassial notches (but no true carnassials); protoconid dominates lower molars, with paraconid anterior and metaconid reduced; talonid low, with loss of hypoconulid, entoconulid, & talonid basin; talonid dominated by hypoconid & crista; upper molars triangular, with extension of parastyle & metastyle, reduction of paraconule & metaconule; all molars laterally compressed; molars often blunt, shearing or crushing surfaces; large temporal fossa & high sagittal crest; metapodials well-integrated; hoofed feet; primitively plantigrade (?) or digitigrade.

Links: The time of origin of the Cetacea; Skull of a new Mesonychid; Paleocene mammals of the world; Postcranial skeleton of Pachyaena; gate.pdf; 8gate.pdf; Untitled Document; Mesonychia after O'Leary, 1998a, b; TIME OF ORIGIN OF MESONYCHIA; The Emergence of Whales, Chp. 5; Whales, not whippos, part I: Nature; Science News: Hippo-Whale Link; 413277aa.doc; Evidence for a Paleocene Evolutionary Radiation; Mesonychia after O'Leary, 1998a, b; NCRV - Natuur - Walking With Beasts - Mesonychia; The Mitochondrial Genome of the Sperm Whale and a New Molecular ....; Wikipedia. ATW030628.

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