Sarkastodon

Sarkastodon ("meaty tooth") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in Asia (in today's China and Mongolia) during the middle Eocene.<ref name="Granger1938"/> It was a genus of large, carnivorous animals known only from a skull and jawbones. Sarkastodon was probably a hypercarnivore that preyed on large mammals in its range during the Middle Eocene, such as brontotheres, chalicotheres, and rhinoceroses. Its weight is estimated at Template:Convert,<ref name="Sorkin">Template:Cite journal</ref> and its length at 3 m (10 ft).<ref name="Prothero">Template:Cite book</ref>

Discovery

The type specimens of S. mongoliensis are known from Eocene deposits from the Irdin Manha Formation of Mongolia. Additional material referred to Sarkastodon is known from the Ulan Shireb beds (Template:Convert from the holotype locality) of Inner Mongolia. These specimens were discovered by Walter W. Granger in 1930, on an expedition to the Gobi Desert.<ref name="Granger1938"/>

Palaeobiology

Sarkastodon was a hypercarnivore, with hyaena-like dentition specialised in bone-cracking.<ref name="Rose2006">Rose KD. (2006.) The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. JHU Press: page 122</ref><ref name="Werdelin1989">Template:Cite journal</ref> The sharp, slicing premolars (which form roughly rectilinear cutting blades)<ref name="Muizon & Lange-Badré, 2007">Template:Cite journal</ref> and crushing molars enabled Sarkastodon to eat both bone and flesh.<ref name="Gunnell, 1998">Gunnell, GF. (1998.) "Creodonta", p. 91-109. In: Janis CM., Scott K.M., and Jacobs LL. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.</ref> It was probably an ambush predator, not a fast runner.<ref name="Prothero"/>

External links

• Artistic reconstruction of Sarkastodon, shown waiting for Andrewsarchus to finish eating from a dead brontothere.