Ekweeconfractus

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

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

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]

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of genus Ekweeconfractus are shown in the following cladogram:[2][3][4][5][1][6]

 †Teratodontidae 
 †Teratodontinae 

†Furodon

 ? 

†Teratodontinae sp. (BC 2’08)

 ? 

†Teratodontinae sp. (CBI-1-614)

 †Ekweeconfractus 

†Ekweeconfractus amorui

†Paratritemnodon

†Kyawdawia

†Brychotherium

 ? 

†Teratodontinae sp. (Locality BQ-2, Fayum, Egypt)

†Dissopsalini

†Metasinopa

†Masrasector nananubis

 ? 

†Masrasector pithecodacos

†Masrasector aegypticum

†Masrasector ligabuei

†Anasinopa

†Teratodontini
†Kyawdawia clade
 †Masrasector 

See also

References
  1. 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.
  2. Borths, Matthew R.; Stevens, Nancy J. (2017). "Deciduous dentition and dental eruption of Hyainailouroidea (Hyaenodonta, "Creodonta," Placentalia, Mammalia)". Palaeontologia Electronica. 20 (3): 55A. doi:10.26879/776.
  3. Matthew R. Borths; Nancy J. Stevens (2019). "Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, gen. et sp. nov. (Hyainailourinae, Hyaenodonta, 'Creodonta,' Mammalia), a gigantic carnivore from the earliest Miocene of Kenya". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 39 (1): e1570222. Bibcode:2019JVPal..39E0222B. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1570222. S2CID 145972918.
  4. Floréal Solé; Bernard Marandat; Fabrice Lihoreau (2020). "The hyaenodonts (Mammalia) from the French locality of Aumelas (Hérault), with possible new representatives from the late Ypresian". Geodiversitas. 42 (13): 185–214. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a13. S2CID 219585388.
  5. Solé, F.; Morlo, M.; Schaal, T.; Lehmann, T. (2021). "New hyaenodonts (Mammalia) from the late Ypresian locality of Prémontré (France) support a radiation of the hyaenodonts in Europe already at the end of the early Eocene". Geobios. 66–67: 119–141. Bibcode:2021Geobi..66..119S. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2021.02.004. S2CID 234848856.
  6. Averianov, Alexander; Obraztsova, Ekaterina; Danilov, Igor; Jin, Jian-Hua (2023). "A new hypercarnivorous hyaenodont from the Eocene of South China". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 11. doi:10.3389/fevo.2023.1076819. ISSN 2296-701X.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.