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GOBICONODON
(go-bee-con-don)
meaning: "Gobi cone tooth"
Gobiconodon
Named By: B. A. Trofimov in 1978
Time Period: Middle Jurassic-Late Cretaceous 166-94 Ma
Location: China, Mongolia, Russia and the USA
Size: About 45-50 centimetre long, depending upon the species
Diet: Carnivore/Insectivore
Fossil(s): Multiple individuals of various species
Classification: | Chordata | Mammalia | Gobiconodonta | Gobiconodontidae |
Also known as: | Guchinodon hoburensis | Neoconodon borissiaki |
About

Gobiconodon is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal from the early Cretaceous. It weighed 10-12 pounds (4.5-5.4 kg) and measured 18-20 inches (460-510 mm). It was one of the largest mammals known from the Mesozoic. Like other gobiconodontids, it possesses several speciations towards carnivory, such as shearing molar teeth, large canine-like incisors and powerful jaw and forelimb musculature, indicating that it probably fed on vertebrate prey; rather uniquely among predatory mammals and other eutriconodonts, the lower canines were vestigial, with the first lower incisor pair having become massive and canine-like. Like the larger Repenomamus there might be some evidence of scavenging.

Read more about Gobiconodon at Wikipedia
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