Biology:Palaeomephitis steinheimensis
| Palaeomephitis steinheimensis Temporal range: Middle Miocene
ca. 12 Ma | |
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| Genus: | Palaeomephitis Jäger, 1839
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| Binomial name | |
| Palaeomephitis steinheimensis Jäger, 1839
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Trochotherium cyamoides | |
Palaeomephitis steinheimensis is an extinct species of skunk of the Miocene epoch in Europe. It is the earliest known species of the family Mephitidae.
Description
Palaeomephitis steinheimensis was described by Jäger in 1839 from a well-preserved cranium found in Steinheim am Albuch in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany . Subsequently different authors considered it to represent a viverrid or a leptarctine mustelid. It was placed in the Mephitinae (now considered to be a distinct family) by Wolsan in 1999, on the evidence of its having an extended epitympanic recess to the middle ear.[1]
Taxonomy
| Skunks |
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Within the skunks, Palaeomephitis is considered to stand close to the two extant species of stink badger (Mydaus) and the several extinct species of Promephitis. This clade is considered to be a sister group to all other skunks living today and other fossil forms.[2]
References
- ↑ Mieczysław Wolsan (1999). "Oldest mephitine cranium and its implications for the origin of skunks". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 44 (2): 223–230. http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app44/app44-223.pdf.
- ↑ Mikko Haaramo (7 October 2007). "Mustelidae: Mephitinae". Mikko’s Phylogeny Archive. Archived from the original on 2017-01-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20170114061553/http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/synapsida/eutheria/carnivora/arctoidea/mephitinae.html. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
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