Mongolestes

Mongolestes
Temporal range: Middle Eocene (Sharamurunian to Ulangochuian),
Possible Ergilian record[1]
M. hadrodens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: †Mesonychia
Family: †Mesonychidae
Genus: †Mongolestes
Type species
Mongolestes hadrodens
Szalay & Gould, 1966
Other Species
  • M. alxaensis Jin, 2005

Mongolestes ("Mongolian robber") is an extinct genus of mesonychid known from the Shara Murun and Ulan Gochu formations of Inner Mongolia.[2][3] It was one the last surviving representatives of Mesonychia, going extinct in the earliest Late Eocene.[4] However, there may be evidence of the genus persisting to the Ergilian of the Asian Land Mammal Age.[5]

Taxonomy

In the paper describing Mongolestes, Szalay and Gould classified the genus as a Mesonychidae, within the subfamily Mesonychinae.[2] Solé et al. (2023) included M. hadrodens within their phylogenetic analysis of Mesonychia. Their phylogenetic model recovered Mongolestes as a sister taxon to Mongolonyx, with both genera being recovered within Mesonyx clade.[6]

Description

Mongolestes is distinct from other mesonychids in several dental features, including relatively large teeth and the loss of the third molar, and a mandibular symphysis that is steeper.[7] Additionally, Mongolestes differs from Dissacus and Pachyaena in the absence of cingula on the upper teeth and lack of a metaconid on the trigonids of the lower cheek teeth.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ Tsubamoto, Takehisa; Tsogtbaatar, Khishigjav; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Egi, Naoko (2022). "A brief review of the updated fossil vertebrate fauna of the upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, southeastern Mongolia" (PDF). Memoirs of the Faculty of Science, Ehime University. 24: 64–83.
  2. 1 2 3 Szalay, Frederick; Gould, S. J. (1966). "Asiatic Mesonychidae (Mammalia, Condylarthra)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 132 (2): 127–174.
  3. ↑ Jin 2005
  4. ↑ Bai, Bin; Li, Qian; Zhou, Xin-Ying; Wang, Xiao-Yang; Xu, Ran-Cheng; Zhang, Xin-Yue; Quan, Shuo-Shuo; Meng, Jin; Wang, Yuan-Qing (2025). "Litho- and Biostratigraphy of the East Mesa in Shara Murun Region of the Erlian Basin, Inner Mongolia, China, and the subdivision of the Ulangochuian Asian Land Mammal Age". American Museum Novitates. 2025 (4034). doi:10.1206/4034.1. ISSN 0003-0082.
  5. ↑ Tsubamoto, Takehisa; Tsogtbaatar, Khishigjav; Chinzorig, Tsogtbaatar; Egi, Naoko (2022). "A brief review of the updated fossil vertebrate fauna of the upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, southeastern Mongolia" (PDF). Memoirs of the Faculty of Science, Ehime University. 24: 64–83.
  6. ↑ Solé, Floréal; Fournier, Morgane; Ladevèze, Sandrine; et al. (2023). "New postcranial elements of mesonychid mammals from the Ypresian of France: New hypotheses for the radiation and evolution of the mesonychids in Europe". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 30 (2): 371–401. doi:10.1007/s10914-023-09651-x.
  7. ↑ N. N. Kramarenko (1974). Зоогеография палеогена Азии (Zoogeography of Paleogene of Asia). Publishing office "Nauka". p. 113. Retrieved 18 September 2022.

References


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