Sarkastodon
| Sarkastodon Temporal range: Middle Eocene
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| Reconstruction of Sarkastodon mongoliensis | |
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| Skull reconstructions of Sarkastodon mongoliensis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Oxyaenodonta |
| Family: | †Oxyaenidae |
| Subfamily: | †Oxyaeninae |
| Genus: | †Sarkastodon Granger, 1938[1] |
| Type species | |
| †Sarkastodon mongoliensis Granger, 1938[1]
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| Species | |
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Sarkastodon ("meaty tooth") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from the extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within the extinct family Oxyaenidae. The genus lived in Asia (in today's China and Mongolia) during the middle Eocene.[1] 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.
Description
[edit]The weight of Sarkastodon mongoliensis is estimated at 800 kg (1,800 lb),[3] and it measured approximately 3 m (10 ft) in length.[4]
Discovery
[edit]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 Shireh beds (160 kilometres or 100 miles from the holotype locality) of Inner Mongolia. These specimens were discovered by Walter W. Granger in 1930, on an expedition to the Gobi Desert.[1]
Palaeobiology
[edit]Sarkastodon was a hypercarnivore, with hyaena-like dentition specialised in bone-cracking.[5][6] The Hunter-Schreger bands of S. mongoliensis are zigzag; this anatomical trait correlates well with osteophagous dietary habits.[7] The sharp, slicing premolars, which form roughly rectilinear cutting blades,[8] and crushing molars enabled Sarkastodon to eat both bone and flesh.[9] It was probably an ambush predator, not a fast runner.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Granger, W. (1938.) "A giant oxyaenid from the upper Eocene of Mongolia." American Museum Novitates 969.
- ^ Y. Tong and Y. Lei (1986.) "Fossil Creodonts and Carnivores (Mammalia) from the Hetaoyuan Eocene of Henan." Vertebrata PalAsiatica 24(3):210-221
- ^ Sorkin, B. (2008). "A biomechanical constraint on body mass in terrestrial mammalian predators". Lethaia. 41 (4): 333–347. Bibcode:2008Letha..41..333S. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00091.x.
- ^ a b Prothero, Donald Ross (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 125. ISBN 9781400884452.
- ^ Rose KD. (2006.) The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. JHU Press: page 122
- ^ Werdelin, L. (1989). "Constraints and adaptations in the bone-cracking canid Osteoborus (Mammalia: Canidae)". Paleobiology. 15 (4): 387–401. Bibcode:1989Pbio...15..387W. doi:10.1017/S009483730000957X. S2CID 82128868.
- ^ Stefen, Clara (September 1997). "The enamel of Creodonta, Arctocyonidae, and Mesonychidae (Mammalia), with special reference to the appearance of Hunter-Schreger-Bands". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 71 (3–4): 291–303. Bibcode:1997PalZ...71..291S. doi:10.1007/BF02988497. ISSN 0031-0220. Retrieved 13 August 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.
- ^ Muizon, C. de; Lange-Badré, B. (2007). "Carnivorous dental adaptations in tribosphenic mammals and phylogenetic reconstruction". Lethaia. 30 (4): 353–366. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1997.tb00481.x.
- ^ 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.
External links
[edit]- Artistic reconstruction of Sarkastodon, shown waiting for Andrewsarchus to finish eating from a dead brontothere.