Mentoclaenodon

Mentoclaenodon Temporal range: Paleocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Condylarthra
Family:	†Arctocyonidae
Genus:	†Mentoclaenodon Weigelt, 1960

Mentoclaenodon is an extinct genus of condylarth mammals.

Mentoclaenodon had large upper canines (sabre-teeth) like some Miocene and Pleistocene big cats. In fact,the Arctocyonid Mentoclaenodon, its close relative Anacodon, and the Creodont Machaeroides were the first mammals to develop saber-teeth. (The saber-tooth Gorgonopsians were semi-reptilian). Its fossils have been found in Europe, in Cernay levels and Walbeck, Germany. With an estimated skull length of 15 cm.

Mentoclaenodon was one of the largest European mammals during the Paleocene. It is also among the first mammal predators to prey on other mammals. Mentoclaenodon and its ancestors reigned from the Cretaceous to the Paleocene. But by the early Eocene they were replaced by the Creodonts and the early Carnivores such as Miacis.

References

• Agusti, Jordi; Anton, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231116403. 

The Book of Life. Stephen Jay Gould. John Barber. Peter Andrews.Norton, W.W.& Company,Inc. 2001 ISBN 0393321568

External links

• Paleocene mammals of the World