Sarkastodon

Sarkastodon ("meaty tooth") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in Asia (in today's China and Mongolia) during the middle Eocene.^[1] It was a genus of large, carnivorous animals known only from a skull and jawbones. Sarkastodon was probably a hypercarnivore that preyed on large mammals in its range during the Middle Eocene, such as brontotheres, chalicotheres, and rhinoceroses. Its weight is estimated at 800 kg (1,800 lb),^[3] and its length at 3 m (10 ft).^[4]

Sarkastodon Temporal range: 45.0–39.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Middle Eocene
Reconstruction of Sarkastodon mongoliensis
Skull reconstructions of Sarkastodon mongolensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Oxyaenodonta
Family:	†Oxyaenidae
Subfamily:	†Oxyaeninae
Genus:	†Sarkastodon Granger, 1938[1]
Type species
†Sarkastodon mongoliensis Granger, 1938[1]
Species
†Sarkastodon henanensis (Tong & Lei, 1986)[2] †Sarkastodon mongoliensis (Granger, 1938)

Discovery

The type specimens of S. mongoliensis are known from Eocene deposits from the Irdin Manha Formation of Mongolia. Additional material referred to Sarkastodon is known from the Ulan Shireb beds (160 kilometres or 100 miles from the holotype locality) of Inner Mongolia. These specimens were discovered by Walter W. Granger in 1930, on an expedition to the Gobi Desert.^[1]

Palaeobiology

Sarkastodon was a hypercarnivore, with hyaena-like dentition specialised in bone-cracking.^[5][6] The sharp, slicing premolars (which form roughly rectilinear cutting blades)^[7] and crushing molars enabled Sarkastodon to eat both bone and flesh.^[8] It was probably an ambush predator, not a fast runner.^[4]