Borhyaena
Appearance
Borhyaena | |
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B. tuberata skull | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Sparassodonta |
Family: | †Borhyaenidae |
Genus: | †Borhyaena Ameghino 1887 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Borhyaena is an extinct genus of South American metatherian, living between 17.5 and 15.5 million years ago in Patagonia, Argentina (Santa Cruz and Sarmiento Formations) and Chile (Río Frias Formation).[2]
Description
[edit]Borhyaena was a predator and had a large head and a long, powerful neck similar to living hyenas. Its legs were cursorial, albeit less specialized than those of wolves or the marsupial thylacine. The most complete specimen is estimated to have weighted 23 kilograms (51 lb) and stood 50 centimetres (1.6 ft) at the shoulders.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Marshall, Larry G. (1978). Evolution of the Borhyaenidae, extinct South American predaceous marsupials. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences. Vol. 117. University of California Press. pp. 1–89. ISBN 9780520095717.
- ^ Borhyaena at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Argot, C. (2003). "Functional adaptations of the postcranial skeleton of two Miocene borhyaenoids (Mammalia, Metatheria), Borhyaena and Prothylacinus, from South America". Palaeontology. 46 (6): 1213–1267. Bibcode:2003Palgy..46.1213A. doi:10.1046/j.0031-0239.2003.00339.x.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Borhyaena at Wikimedia Commons