Apterodon

Apterodon ("without winged tooth") is an extinct genus of hyaenodontid mammals that lived from the late Eocene through the middle Oligocene epoch in Africa and Europe.[3] It is closely related to the African Quasiapterodon, and together it, they comprise the hyainailurids subfamily Apterodontinae.[3]

Apterodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene to Middle Oligocene
Two views of the skull of
Apterodon macrognathus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Hyaenodonta
Superfamily: Hyainailouroidea
Family: Hyainailouridae
Subfamily: Apterodontinae
Genus: Apterodon
Fischer, 1880
Type species
Apterodon gaudryi
Fischer, 1880
Species
  • A. altidens (Schlosser, 1910)[1]
  • A. gaudryi (Fischer, 1880)[2]
  • A. langebadreae (Grohé, 2012)[3]
  • A. macrognathus (Andrews, 1904)[4]
  • A. rauenbergensis (Frey, 2010)[5]
  • A. saghensis (Simons & Gingerich, 1976)[6]
Synonyms
synonyms of genus:
  • Dasyurodon (Andreae, 1887)[7]
synonyms of species:
  • A. gaudryi:
    • Apterodon flonheimensis (Andreae, 1887)
    • Apterodon intermedius (Lange-Badré & Böhme, 2005)[8]
    • Dasyurodon flonheimensis (Andreae, 1887)
  • A. macrognathus:
    • Pterodon macrognathus (Andrews, 1904)

Uniquely among hyaenodonts, species of Apterodon were a semiaquatic, fossorial mammals. They possessed strong forelimbs that were well equipped for digging, compared to those of modern badgers, while the tail, torso and hindlimbs show adaptations similar to those of other aquatic mammals like otters and pinnipeds. The dentition was suited to feed on hard-shelled invertebrate prey, such as crustaceans and shellfish. They probably lived along African coastlines.[3]

Borths and Stevens (2017.)[9] described a new specimen of Apterodon macrognathus (among with other hyaenodonts) and concluded that the dental eruption of secondary dentition occurred much more slowly than in carnivorans.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of genus Apterodon are shown in the following cladogram.[3][9][10][11][12]

 Hyaenodonta 

Eoproviverra

Boualitomidae

Arfiidae

Limnocyonidae

Sinopidae

Hyaenodontoidea

Gazinocyon

Pyrocyon

Galecyon

 AfroArabian clade 

Parvavorodon

Indohyaenodontidae

Glibzegdouia

Koholiidae

Tritemnodon

Teratodontidae

 Apterodontinae 
 Apterodon 

Apterodon altidens

Apterodon gaudryi

 ? 

Apterodon rauenbergensis

Apterodon langebadreae

Apterodon macrognathus

 ? 

Apterodon sp. (Dur At-Talah escarpment, Libya)

Apterodon saghensis

Quasiapterodon

Maocyon

Maocyon/Orienspterodon clade

Orienspterodon

Hyainailourinae

Hemipsalodon

 ? 

Ischnognathus

Akhnatenavus clade

Akhnatenavus

"Pterodon" sp. (BC 15’08)

Hyainailourinae sp. (UON 84-359)

Hyainailourinae sp. C (DPC 9243 & DPC 10315)

Hyainailourinae sp. D (DPC 6545)

Kerberos

"Pterodon" syrtos

Pterodon clade

Pterodontina

Hyainailourinae sp. A (DPC 6555)

"Pterodon" africanus

Parapterodon

"Pterodon" sp. (DPC 5036)

"Pterodon" phiomensis

Hyainailourini

Paroxyaenini

Falcatodon

Sectisodon

Exiguodon

Isohyaenodon zadoki

Isohyaenodon  (†Isohyaenodontina)

Isohyaenodon andrewsi

Sivapterodon

Hyainailouros bugtiensis

Hyainailouros napakensis

Hyainailouros

Hyainailouros sulzeri

Hyainailourinae sp. (GSN AD 100’96)

Simbakubwa

Leakitheriini

Megistotherium

Mlanyama

Metapterodontini

Pakakali

Prionogalidae

Hyainailouridae
Lahimia clade
Arfia clade
Galecyon clade
Indohyaenodon clade
Tritemnodon clade

See also

References

  1. Schlosser M. (1910.) "Über einige fossil saügetiere aus dem Oligocän von Ägypten." Zoologischer Anzeiger 35: 500–508.
  2. Fischer, P. (1880.) "Note sur un nouveau genre de mammifère fossile (Apterodon gaudryi) des Phosphorites du Quercy." Bulletin de la Société géologique de France 8, 288–290.
  3. Grohé, Camille; Morlo, Michael; Chaimanee, Yaowalak; Blondel, Cécile; Coster, Pauline; Valentin, Xavier; Salem, Mustapha; Bilal, Awad A.; Jaeger, Jean-Jacques; Brunet, Michel; Laudet, Vincent (2012). "New Apterodontinae (Hyaenodontida) from the Eocene Locality of Dur At-Talah (Libya): Systematic, Paleoecological and Phylogenetical Implications". PLOS ONE. 7 (11): e49054. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...749054G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049054. PMC 3504055. PMID 23185292.
  4. C. W. Andrews (1904.) "Further notes on the mammals of the Eocene of Egypt. Part III." Geological Magazine, London Ser. 5 1:211-215
  5. E. Frey, W. Munk, M. Böhme, M. Morlo and M. Hensel (2010.) "First creodont carnivore from the Rupelian Clays (Oligocene) of the Clay Pit Unterfeld at Rauenberg (Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg): Apterodon rauenbergensis n.sp." Kaupia 17:103-113
  6. E. L. Simons and P. D. Gingerich (1976.) "A new species of Apterodon (Mammalia, Creodonta) from the upper Eocene Qasr el-Sagha Formation of Egypt." Postilla 168:1-9
  7. Andreae, A. (1887.) "Ein neues Raubtier aus dem mitteloligocänen Meeresand des Mainzer Beckens." Bericht uber die Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft (125–133).
  8. B. Lange-Badré and M. Böhme (2005.) "Apterodon intermedius, sp. nov., a new European Creodont Mammal from MP22 of Espenhain (Germany)." Annales de Paléontologie 91:311-328
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
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