''Chamitataxus'' is a prehistoric

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

. ''Chamitataxus avitus'' is the only known

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of the genus. ''Chamitataxus'' lived during the Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, around 6 million years ago in what is now North America. Out of the three taxideine badger genera to have existed on the continent, ''Chamitataxus'' is the most primitive. Very few taxideine badger remains have been uncovered to date, with only prehistoric ''

Taxidea The American badger (''Taxidea taxus'') is a North American badger similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely related. It is found in the western, central, and northeastern United States, northern Mexico, and south-centr ...

'' and '' Pliotaxidea'' specimens being discovered prior to the ''Chamitataxus''

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

being found.

Description

''Chamitataxus'' is known only from a single holotype found in 1935, which consists of a nearly complete

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...

. The holotype was discovered in a quarry not far from Lyden,

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

, where the prehistoric herbivore ''

Osbornoceros ''Osbornoceros'' is an extinct artiodactyl genus of the family Antilocapridae.Frick 1937 All antilocaprid species are extinct except for the pronghorn. ''Osbornoceros osborni'' is the only known species of the genus ''Osbornoceros''. ''Osbornoc ...

'' was also discovered. ''Chamitataxus'' was named after the rock formation it was discovered in, the

Chamita Formation The Chamita Formation is a geologic formation in north-central New Mexico. It preserves unique fossils dating back to the Neogene period. The presence of volcanic ash beds in the formation, which can be radiometrically dated, gives the absolut ...

. Due to the relative lack of ''Chamitataxus'' specimens, much of the research into the genus is based upon research into better-represented taxa related to ''Chamitataxus'', such as ''

'', the modern American badger, which also existed in the Late Miocene. ''Chamitataxus'' was fairly similar to its modern-day relatives in most respects; it was a

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other s ...

and judging from the skull found, it looked fairly similar. However, because so little of ''Chamitataxus'' has been found, estimating its size and other features is impossible; much is unknown about the genus. ''Chamitataxus'' had a very good sense of smell and had a firm grip like its modern equivalent and this enabled ''Chamitataxus'' to kill burrowing animals with a bite to the neck. Like other mammals, ''Chamitataxus'' excelled at hearing low-frequency noises, which it could hear at a long distance. Overall, ''Chamitataxus'' was an expert hunter based on scientists' findings, and was able to prey on many different types of land-dwelling creatures during the Miocene.

References

{{Portal, Paleontology Badgers Miocene mustelids Miocene carnivorans Miocene mammals of North America Prehistoric mustelids Extinct animals of the United States Miocene genus first appearances Miocene genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 2006 Prehistoric carnivoran genera