Description
Phenacodus sp.
Early Eocene
Willwood Formation
Powell, Wyoming, USA.
Molar in 21mm jaw section. This creature is a member of the Condylarths a problematic taxon of primitive ungulate mammals. Over a century after their discovery there is still little certainty as to where they belong among the rest of the placental mammals.
Phenacodus is a genus of archaic hoofed, herbivorous mammal that appeared during the Middle Paleocene and died out during the Middle Eocene. It is interesting because it was part of a wave of ungulate evolution between the groups of the Early Paleocene and the earliest members of modern ungulate groups, but even today, its relationships to any other group remain unclear. It’s quite possible that it died out without descendants.
Phenacodus teeth are seldom offered for sale because few dealers offer Eocene mammal specimens these days. This specimen is for the mammal collector who is looking for something unusual or something from that lesser-understood time before dogs, cats, camels, oreodonts, and giant pigs.
