Apterodon

Name: Apterodon
Phonetic: Ap-teh-roe-don.
Named By: Fischer‭ ‬-‭ ‬1880.
Synonyms: Apterodon flonheimensis,‭ ‬Dasyurodon.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Creodonta,‭ ‬Hyaenodontidae‭?
Species: A.‭ ‬gaudryi‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬altidens,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Intermedus,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬macrognathus,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬saghensis.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Egypt,‭ ‬Germany.
Time period: Priabonian of the Eocene to Rupelian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Fossils of several individuals,‭ ‬though often of very incomplete‭ ‬remains.

       A little known creodont genus,‭ ‬Apterodon fossil locations so far suggest that the genus roamed across Europe and North Africa from the late Eocene to early Oligocene periods.‭ ‬Although a creodont and a predator,‭ ‬Apterodon lacks the carnassial‭ (‬blade-like meat shearing‭) ‬teeth that are seen in other creodonts.‭ ‬This may indicate a different eating and possibly hunting specialisation for this genus,‭ ‬something that may have reduced inter-species competition and allowed it to live in the same ecosystems as other creodonts.‭
       One former species of Apterodon,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬flonheimensis,‭ ‬is now considered to be a synonym to the type species A.‭ ‬gaudryi.

Further reading
- Apterodon intermedus,‭ ‬sp.‭ ‬nov.,‭ ‬a new European Creodont Mammal from MP22‭ ‬of Espenhain‭ (‬Germany‭)‬,‭ ‬Bridgette lange-Badre‭ & ‬Madelaine Bohme‭ ‬-‭ ‬2005.



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