Hyopsodus paulus
Middle Eocene
Bridger Formation
Nera Rock Springs, Sweetwater County
Wyoming, USA.

Hyopsodus was a small, adaptable animal with specialized teeth suited for processing a varied diet. Fossils from the Bridger Formation provide important evidence of mammalian evolution during a time when early modern mammal groups were rapidly diversifying following the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. These animals were previously called “condylarths”, a wastebasket taxon of often unrelated early Cenozoic mammals that was erected because no one really understood how any of these animals were related to more modern lineages.

45mm jaw section with two teeth.

See: Wikipedia – Hyopsodus Opens in a new tab