Sarkastodon

Sarkastodon Temporal range: early to late Eocene
Reconstruction of Sarkastodon mongoliensis
Skull reconstructions of Sarkastodon mongolensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Oxyaenodonta
Family:	†Oxyaenidae
Subfamily:	†Oxyaeninae
Genus:	†Sarkastodon Granger, 1938
Type species
†Sarkastodon mongoliensis Granger, 1938
Species
†Sarkastodon henanensis (Tong & Lei, 1986) †Sarkastodon mongoliensis (Granger, 1938)

Sarkastodon ("meaty tooth") is an extinct genus of mammal within the creodont family Oxyaenidae that lived during the early to late Eocene, 48.6 to 37.2 million years ago. It was a large, carnivorous animal that lived in what is today China and Mongolia. Sarkastodon is known only from a skull and jawbones. Sarkastodon was probably a hypercarnivore that preyed on large mammals in its range during the Late Eocene, such as brontotheres, chalicotheres, and rhinoceroses. Its weight is estimated at 800 kg (1,800 lb), and its length at 3 m (10 ft).

Discovery

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 Shireb 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.

Palaeobiology

Sarkastodon was a hypercarnivore, with hyaena-like dentition specialised in bone-cracking. The sharp, slicing premolars (which form roughly rectilinear cutting blades) and crushing molars enabled Sarkastodon to eat both bone and flesh. It was probably an ambush predator, not a fast runner.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of genus Sarkastodon are shown in the following cladogram.

Pan-Carnivora	†Hyaenodonta  †Hyaenodonta (sensu stricto) †Altacreodus †Tinerhodon  sensu lato  Carnivoramorpha  †Oxyaenodonta   †Oxyaenidae  †Tytthaeninae  †Palaeonictinae †Machaeroidinae  †Oxyaeninae  †Dipsalidictis aequidens †Dipsalidictis krausei †Dipsalidictis platypus †Dipsalidictis transiens †Patriofelis †Protopsalis †Oxyaena †Malfelis  ?  †Argillotherium  †Sarkastodon  †Sarkastodon henanensis †Sarkastodon mongoliensis	†Altacreodus/Tinerhodon clade †Dipsalidictis

External links

• Artistic reconstruction of Sarkastodon, shown waiting for Andrewsarchus to finish eating from a dead brontothere.