
Reconstruction of Dormaalcyon latouri. Credit: Art by Charlène Letenneur (MNHN) and Pascale Golinvaux (RBINS)
New fossils from Belgium have shed light on the origin of some of the most well-known, and well-loved, modern mammals. Cats and dogs, as well as other carnivorous mammals (like bears, seals, and weasels), taxonomically called 'carnivoraformes', trace their ancestry to primitive carnivorous mammals dating back to 55 million years ago (the beginning of the time period called the Eocene). A study, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, discusses the origins of this group and describes new specimens of one of the earliest of these primitive taxa. The species, dubbed Dormaalocyon latouri, had previously been found at the Belgian locality of Dormaal (thus the name of the genus). New specimens found by lead author Floréal Solé and his colleagues, allow for a better characterization of the animal, and its placement in the evolutionary history of carnivores. "Its description allows better understanding of the origination, variability and ecology of the earliest carnivoraforms," says Solé. This is a hypothetical phylogeny (family tree) of carniovrous mammals showing the placement of Dormaalcyon within the carnivoraformes, and the relationship of carnivoraformes to modern taxa, divided...
Read More........→February 18, 2014 Categories: Animal,Lion-Tiger-Cheetas,Matter-Of-Fact,Media,Research