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''Gobiconodon'' is an extinct genus of carnivorous
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
from the
Middle Jurassic
The Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the Jurassic Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 163.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relatively rare, but geological formations co ...
to
Early Cretaceous
The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma.
Geology
Pro ...
. It weighed , had a skull of in length, and had in presacral body length. It was one of
the largest mammals known from the Mesozoic. Like other
gobiconodontids, it possesses several speciations towards carnivory, such as shearing
molar teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, tear ...
, large
canine-like
incisor
Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whe ...
s and powerful jaw and forelimb musculature, indicating that it probably fed on vertebrate prey; rather uniquely among predatory mammals and other eutriconodonts, the lower canines were vestigial, with the first lower incisor pair having become massive and canine-like. Like the larger ''
Repenomamus
''Repenomamus'' (Latin: "reptile" (reptilis), "mammal" (mammalis)) is a genus of opossum- to badger-sized gobiconodontid mammal containing two species, ''Repenomamus robustus'' and ''Repenomamus giganticus''. Both species are known from fossils ...
'' there might be some evidence of
scavenging
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding be ...
.
[Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska, Richard L. Cifelli, Zhe-Xi Luo (2004). "Chapter 7: Eutriconodontans". Mammals from the Age of Dinosaurs: origins, evolution, and structure. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 216–248. .]
Species
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1011259
Bathonian genus first appearances
Callovian genera
Oxfordian genera
Kimmeridgian genera
Tithonian genera
Berriasian genera
Valanginian genera
Hauterivian genera
Barremian genera
Aptian genera
Albian genera
Cenomanian genus extinctions
Early Cretaceous mammals of Asia
Cretaceous China
Cretaceous Mongolia
Cretaceous Russia
Fossils of China
Fossils of Mongolia
Fossils of Russia
Early Cretaceous mammals of Europe
Cretaceous Spain
Fossils of Spain
Early Cretaceous mammals of North America
Cloverly fauna
Middle Jurassic mammals of Europe
Late Jurassic mammals of Europe
Cretaceous England
Fossils of England
Fossil taxa described in 1978
Prehistoric mammal genera