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Mesonychids fared very poorly at the close of the Eocene epoch, with only one genus, Mongolestes, [6] surviving into the Early Oligocene epoch. Restoration of Mesonyx Mesonychids probably originated in Asia , where the most primitive mesonychid, Yantanglestes , is known from the early Paleocene.
While this was the earliest genus of mesonychid to be named (by Edward Drinker Cope in 1872) and the group is named after it, Mesonyx was one of the most derived genera of mesonychids, evolving features for active running. [7] These animals had a reduced sense of smell and likely relied on sight and hearing to find food. [8]
Mesonychia ("middle claws") is an extinct taxon of small- to large-sized carnivorous ungulates related to artiodactyls.Mesonychians first appeared in the early Paleocene, went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene, and died out entirely when the last genus, Mongolestes, became extinct in the early Oligocene.
Pachyaena (literally, "thick hyena") was a genus of heavily built, relatively short-legged mesonychids, early Cenozoic mammals that evolved before the origin of either modern hoofed animals or carnivores, and combined characteristics similar to both.
Paleontologists believe that mesonychids would not have been able to slice meat as effectively as other carnivorous animals, but large genera like Ankalagon would have used their pointed teeth to grab a chunk of meat and their unusually strong jaw muscles to pull it free from a large carcass, perhaps bracing it with their front feet. [7]
A phylogenetic analysis of European mesonychids suggests that Dissacus was part of an early diversification of species in the Paleocene, and other genera diversified in a later episode in the early Eocene. D. europaeus survived the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period of severe global warming, which suggests it had flexible habits.
Mongolestes ("Mongolian robber") is an extinct genus of mesonychid known from the 'Ulan Gochu' formation of Inner Mongolia, and likely originated in Asia.It was the last surviving representative of Mesonychia and became extinct in the early Oligocene.
It was found throughout Asia. It is the oldest known mesonychid. It is the oldest known mesonychid. Yantanglestes became extinct during the Nongshanian division of the Late Paleocene, [ 2 ] and lived sympatrically with its descendant genera, including Dissacus , Sinonyx and Jiangxia .