Sarkastodon ("meaty tooth") is an extinction genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in Asia (in today's China and Mongolia) during the middle Eocene.
Discovery
The
Biological 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 Shireb beds ( from the holotype locality) of Inner Mongolia. These specimens were discovered by Walter W. Granger in 1930, on an expedition to the
Gobi Desert.
Palaeobiology
Sarkastodon was a
hypercarnivore, with
hyaena-like dentition specialised in bone-cracking.
[Rose KD. (2006.) The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. JHU Press: page 122] The sharp, slicing
(which form roughly rectilinear cutting blades)
and crushing molars enabled
Sarkastodon to eat both bone and flesh.
[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.] It was probably an ambush predator, not a fast runner.
External links
