50-Million-Year-Old Mammalian Carnivore Discovered In Wyoming

In the early Eocene period, about 50 million years ago, an extinct group of early mammalian carnivores called the 'hyaenodontids' roamed the territories that lions and the bears now possess. Researchers recently discovered the skeletal remain of a 'hyaenodontid Galecyon,' in the Bighorn Basin in Wyoming, according to a study.

The Bighorn Basin is well known for some its well-preserved fossils dating back as far as 500 million years ago. The researchers' fossilized mammalian carnivore is shedding new light on the ecology and evolutionary relationships of some of the earliest mammalian carnivores.

"The skeleton of Galecyon shows why we keep looking for fossils...When this skeleton was found, tens of thousands of mammalian fossils had been collected from the Bighorn Basin, but this was the first decent skeleton of this animal," Shawn Zack, from the University of Arizona lead author of the study, said in a news release.

The Galecyon fossil is about the size of a modern coyote, which enabled the researchers to study its moving abilities.

"Galecyon may have moved around like a living wolverine or skunk. Probably not much of a runner, but spending most of its time on the ground, while some of its relatives spent a lot more time in the trees," Zack said.

The fossil remains are allowing the researchers to analyze the evolutionary and ecological relationships among hyaenodontids.

"This study shows that early hyaenodontids had diverse habitat preferences, which helps explain how several different hyaenodontids were able to coexist in the same faunas, despite having similar diets and comparable body sizes," said Zack.

The findings of this study were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

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