 | This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(May 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Griphodon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mandible ofGriphodon | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Pyrotheria |
| Family: | †Pyrotheriidae |
| Genus: | †Griphodon Anthony 1924 |
| Type species | |
| Griphodon peruvianus Anthony, 1924 | |
| Species | |
| |
Griphodon is anextinctgenus ofmammals, belonging to the orderPyrotheria. It lived during the MiddleEocene, in what is nowPeru.
All that is known about this animal is a fragment of a mandible complete with teeth. Its teeth were two-crested, slightly more transversal than in other genera such asCarolozittelia, but there are indications of the presence of a longitudinal crest, and even, in the thirdpremolar, of a complete crest, not found inPyrotherium.
Griphodon peruvianus was first described in 1924 by Anthony, who considered it to be aPerissodactyl. The fragmentary fossil was found nearChicoca, along theHuallaga River. Subsequently the genus was considered a basal member of the Pyrotheres, a mysterious clade of heavy-shaped mammals from the EarlyCenozoic of South America, of uncertain affinities. Other fossils attributed toGriphodon were later found nearContamana in theLoreto Province ofPeru.
Griphodon seems to had a diet mainly composed of tough plants, which were crushed by its powerful crested teeth.
