''Tytthaena'' ("little hyena") is an extinct genus of
oxyaenids from subfamily Tytthaeninae. It lived during the late
Paleocene
The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...
to early
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Two species are known, ''T. parrisi'' and ''T. lichna''.
Description
''Tytthaena'' is the smallest oxyaenid known. Morphologically, it resembles ''
Oxyaena
''Oxyaena'' ("sharp hyena") is an extinct genus of oxyaenid mammal from early Eocene of Europe, Asia and North America (most specimens being found in Colorado).
Etymology
The name of the genus translates as "sharp hyaena" ( and name of hyen ...
''. It can be distinguished from other oxyaenids by its size and dentition. Its molars were narrow, with elongate talonids.
[P. D. Gingerich. (1980.) "''Tytthaena parrisi'', Oldest Known Oxyaenid (Mammalia, Creodonta) from the Late Paleocene of Western North America." Journal of Paleontology 54(3):570-576][K. D. Rose. (1981.) "The Clarkforkian Land-Mammal Age and Mammalian Faunal Composition Across the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary." University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 26:1-197]
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships of genus ''Tytthaena'' are shown in the following cladogram.
[Prevosti, F. J. & Forasiepi, A. M. (2018.]
"Introduction. Evolution of South American Mammalian Predators During the Cenozoic: Paleobiogeographic and Paleoenvironmental Contingencies"
/ref>
See also
* Mammal classification
Mammalia is a class of animal within the phylum Chordata. Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carl Linnaeus initially defined the class. No classification system is universally accepted; McKenna & Bell (1997) and Wilson ...
* Oxyaenidae
Oxyaenidae ("sharp hyenas") is a family of extinct carnivorous placental mammals. Traditionally classified in order Creodonta, this group is now classified in its own order Oxyaenodonta ("sharp tooth hyenas") within clade Pan-Carnivora in mirorde ...
References
Oxyaenidae
Extinct mammals of North America
Paleocene first appearances
Eocene genus extinctions
Fossil taxa described in 1980
Taxa named by Philip D. Gingerich
Prehistoric placental genera
{{paleo-mammal-stub