Hyaenodon created a reign of terror by just using its head. Its powerful, razor sharp bite could dispatch a prey animal within seconds and left a mark in history that will never be matched. Hyaenodon is a genus of predatory mammals, of the extinct order Hyaenodonta. Hyaenodon species could be found across the globe in Africa, Eurasia, and North America, they lived between the Late Eocene and Miocene periods. The two species present in Prehistoric Kingdom are:
Hyaeonodon gigas, the largest Hyaenodon known, which lived in Asia during the Eocene and Oligocene periods.
And Hyaenodon horridus a smaller species that lived in North America, also during the Eocene and Oligocene. Despite its name, Hyaenodon is not closely related to hyenas and is instead part of the Creodonta. This family of mammals dominated the Paleogene period after out-competing the Mesonychids, ungulate predators, before becoming extinct in the Late Miocene. Their closest living relatives are pangolins, which are insectivores. The Creodonta seem mainly to have been opportunistic predators and scavengers, though some of the earlier members may have been omnivorous. Hyaenodon is the most famous of the group and was the most common predator of the Oligocene. It was widespread across almost all continents, bar South America, Australia and Antarctica. Several Hyaenodon species evolved to fill various niches, including a miniature species which would have occupied niches similar to the modern day fox.
Hyaenodon was named in 1838 and its name means "Hyaena Tooth".
#history #evolution #beast
