''Griphodon'' is an extinct

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 ...

of mammals, belonging to the order

Pyrotheria Pyrotheria is an order of extinct meridiungulate mammals. These mastodon-like ungulates include the genera ''Baguatherium'', ''Carolozittelia'', ''Colombitherium'', ''Griphodon'', ''Propyrotherium'', ''Proticia'', and '' Pyrotherium''. They had ...

. It lived during the Middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

, in what is now

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Description

All that is known about this animal is a fragment of a mandible complete with teeth. Its teeth were two-crested, slightly more transversal than in other genera such as '' Carolozittelia'', but there are indications of the presence of a longitudinal crest, and even, in the third premolar, of a complete crest, not found in ''Pyrotherium''.

Classification

''Griphodon peruvianus'' was first described in 1924 by Anthony, who considered it to be a

Perissodactyl Odd-toed ungulates, mammals which constitute the taxonomic order Perissodactyla (, ), are animals—ungulates—who have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three (rhinoceroses and tapirs, with tapirs still using four toes on the front legs) o ...

. The fragmentary fossil was found near Chicoca, along the

Huallaga River The Huallaga River is a tributary of the Marañón River, part of the Amazon Basin. Old names for this river include ''Guallaga'' and ''Rio de los Motilones''. The Huallaga is born on the slopes of the Andes in central Peru and joins the Marañón ...

. Subsequently the genus was considered a basal member of the Pyrotheres, a mysterious clade of heavy-shaped mammals from the Early Cenozoic of South America, of uncertain affinities. Other fossils attributed to ''Griphodon'' were later found near

Contamana Contamana is a town in the Loreto Region in northeastern Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type ...

in the

Loreto Province The Loreto Province is one of the eight provinces in the Loreto Region of Peru. The capital of the province is the historic town of Nauta. This biologically and culturally diverse region includes the Pacaya–Samiria National Reservation, and is ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

Paleoecology

''Griphodon'' seems to had a diet mainly composed of tough plants, which were crushed by its powerful crested teeth.

Bibliography

*H. E. Anthony. 1924. A new fossil perissodactyl from Peru. American Museum Novitates 111:1-3 *B. J. Shockey and F. Anaya-Daza. 2004. Pyrotherium macfaddeni, sp. nov. (late Oligocene, Bolivia) and the pedal morphology of pyrotheres. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24(2):481-488 *P. Antoine, M. A. Abello, S. Adnet, A. J. Altamirano Sierra, P. Baby, G. Billet, M. Boivin, Y. Calderón, A. Candela, J. Chabain, F. Corfu, D. A. Croft, M. Ganerød, C. Jaramillo, S. Klaus, L. Marivaux, R. E. Navarrete, M. J. Orliac, F. Parra, M. E. Pérez, F. Pujos, J. Rage, and A. R. 2016. A 60-million-year Cenozoic history of western Amazonian ecosystems in Contamana, eastern Peru. Gondwana Research 31:30-59 {{Taxonbar, from=Q55760714 Meridiungulata Eocene mammals of South America Paleogene Peru Fossils of Peru Fossil taxa described in 1924 Prehistoric placental genera