Megistotherium
Name:
Megistotherium
(Greatest beast).
Phonetic: Meh-giss-toe-fee-ree-um.
Named By: R. J. G. Savage - 1973.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Eutheria,
Laurasiatheria, Creodonta, Hyaenodontidae, Hyainailourinae.
Species: M. osteothlastes
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Largest known skull about 66 centimetres
long. Overall roughly about 135 centimetres high at the shoulder.
Known locations: Africa, with countries including
Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Namibia, Uganda
Time period: Aquitanian through to the Serravalian
of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Skull and postcranial remains.
A
large relative of the more famous Hyaenodon,
Megistotherium
was
clearly one of the main predators of its day. The skull of
Megistotherium alone measured up to sixty-six
centimetres long,
almost as long as the average person’s arm and hand. It is likely
that Megistotherium also scavenged carcasses,
though in what ratio
Megistotherium hunted and scavenged is unknown. In
Africa today
animals associated with hunting such as lions will scavenge when they
can, while animals associated with scavenging such as hyena will also
hunt. The bones of mastodons have been found with Megistotherium-like
tooth marks upon them, suggesting that Megistotherium
at least fed
upon them.
There
has been speculation however that Megistotherium
may be a synonym of
Hyainailouros, a relative creodont also known to
have attained large
sizes, be similar and be active in some of the same locations at the
same time as Megistotherium.
Further reading
- Megistotherium, gigantic hyaenodont from
Miocene of Gebel
Zelten, Libya. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History)
Geology 22 (7): 483–511. - R. J. G. Savage -
1973.
- New specimens of the giant creodont Megistotherium
(Hyaenodontidae) from Moghara, Egypt. - Journal of Mammalogy
(American Society of Mammalogists) 70 (2): 442–447 - D.
Tab Rasmussen, Christopher D. Tilden and Elwyn L. Simons -
1989.
- Creodonta and Carnivora from Arrisdrift, early Middle Miocene of
southern Namibia - Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia
01/2003; 19:177-194. - Jorge Morales, Martin Pickford,
Susana Fraile, Manuel J. Salesa & Dolores Soria -
2003.
- Carnivores from the Middle Miocene Ngorora Formation (13-12
Ma) Kenya. Estudios Geol., 61, 271-284 - J. Morales
& M. Pickford - 2005.
- Creodonta and Carnivora from Wadi Moghra, Egypt. - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 145–159 - M. Morlo, E. R.
Miller & A. N. El-Barkooky - 2007.
- Creodonta and Carnivora from the early Miocene of the northern
Sperrgebiet, Namibia. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia
20: 291-310 - J. Morales, M. Pickford, M. J. Salesa
- 2008.
- Creodonts and carnivores from the Middle Miocene Muruyur Formation
at Kipsaraman and Cheparawa, Baringo District, Kenya. - Comptes
Rendus Palevol 7 (8): 487-497 - J. Morales &
M. Pickford - 2008.
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