Apterodon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|fossil_range = {{fossil_range|39.6|27.8}} Late Eocene to Middle Oligocene

|image = Apterodon macrognathus skull2.svg

|image_caption = Two views of the skull of
Apterodon macrognathus

|taxon = Apterodon

|display_parents = 3

|authority = Fischer, 1880

|type_species = †Apterodon gaudryi

|type_species_authority = Fischer, 1880

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision =

• †A. altidens {{small|(Schlosser, 1910)}}Schlosser M. (1910.) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/37586#page/514/mode/1up "Über einige fossil saügetiere aus dem Oligocän von Ägypten."] Zoologischer Anzeiger 35: 500–508.
• †A. gaudryi {{small|(Fischer, 1880)}}Fischer, P. (1880.) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/181267#page/318/mode/1up "Note sur un nouveau genre de mammifère fossile (Apterodon gaudryi) des Phosphorites du Quercy."] Bulletin de la Société géologique de France 8, 288–290.
• †A. langebadreae {{small|(Grohé, 2012)}}{{cite journal |last=Grohé |first=Camille |author2=Morlo, Michael |author3=Chaimanee, Yaowalak |author4=Blondel, Cécile |author5=Coster, Pauline |author6=Valentin, Xavier |author7=Salem, Mustapha |author8=Bilal, Awad A. |author9=Jaeger, Jean-Jacques |author10=Brunet, Michel |author11=Laudet, Vincent |title=New Apterodontinae (Hyaenodontida) from the Eocene Locality of Dur At-Talah (Libya): Systematic, Paleoecological and Phylogenetical Implications |journal=PLOS ONE |date=2012 |volume=7 |issue=11 |pages=e49054 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0049054 |pmid=23185292 |pmc=3504055 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...749054G |doi-access=free}}
• †A. macrognathus {{small|(Andrews, 1904)}}C. W. Andrews (1904.) [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/abs/iiifurther-notes-on-the-mammals-of-the-eocene-of-egypt/55567A631FB92340E91130702E6B2312 "Further notes on the mammals of the Eocene of Egypt. Part III."] Geological Magazine, London Ser. 5 1:211-215
• †A. rauenbergensis {{small|(Frey, 2010)}}E. Frey, W. Munk, M. Böhme, M. Morlo and M. Hensel (2010.) [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233791131_First_creodont_carnivore_from_the_Rupelian_Clays_Oligocene_of_the_former_claypit_Unterfeld_at_Rauenberg_Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis_Baden-Wurttemberg_Apterodon_rauenbergensis_n_sp "First creodont carnivore from the Rupelian Clays (Oligocene) of the Clay Pit Unterfeld at Rauenberg (Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg): Apterodon rauenbergensis n.sp."] Kaupia 17:103-113
• †A. saghensis {{small|(Simons & Gingerich, 1976)}}E. L. Simons and P. D. Gingerich (1976.) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/28865004#page/3/mode/1up "A new species of Apterodon (Mammalia, Creodonta) from the upper Eocene Qasr el-Sagha Formation of Egypt."] Postilla 168:1-9

|synonyms =

{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=synonyms of genus:

|Dasyurodon {{small|(Andreae, 1887)}}Andreae, A. (1887.) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/37305#page/205/mode/1up "Ein neues Raubtier aus dem mitteloligocänen Meeresand des Mainzer Beckens."] Bericht uber die Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft (125–133).

}}

{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=synonyms of species:

|{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=A. gaudryi:

|Apterodon flonheimensis {{small|(Andreae, 1887)}}

|Apterodon intermedius {{small|(Lange-Badré & Böhme, 2005)}}B. Lange-Badré and M. Böhme (2005.) [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753396905000479 "Apterodon intermedius, sp. nov., a new European Creodont Mammal from MP22 of Espenhain (Germany)."] Annales de Paléontologie 91:311-328

|Dasyurodon flonheimensis {{small|(Andreae, 1887)}}

}}

|{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=A. macrognathus:

|Pterodon macrognathus {{small|(Andrews, 1904)}}

}} }}

}}

Apterodon ("without winged tooth") is an extinct genus of hyaenodontid mammals that lived from the late Eocene through the middle Oligocene epoch in Africa and Europe. It is closely related to the African Quasiapterodon, and together it, they comprise the hyainailurid subfamily Apterodontinae.

File:Apterodon.jpg of Apterodon macrognathus]]

Uniquely among hyaenodonts, species of Apterodon were semiaquatic, fossorial mammals. They possessed strong forelimbs that were well equipped for digging, compared to those of modern badgers, while the tail, torso and hindlimbs show adaptations similar to those of other aquatic mammals like otters and pinnipeds. The dentition was suited to feed on hard-shelled invertebrate prey, such as crustaceans and shellfish. They probably lived along African coastlines.

Borths and Stevens (2017.){{Cite journal |last1=Borths |first1=Matthew R. |last2=Stevens |first2=Nancy J. |date=2017 |title=Deciduous dentition and dental eruption of Hyainailouroidea (Hyaenodonta, "Creodonta," Placentalia, Mammalia) |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2017/2056-deciduous-hyaenodont-teeth |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=55A |doi=10.26879/776 |doi-access=free}} described a new specimen of Apterodon macrognathus (among with other hyaenodonts) and concluded that the dental eruption of secondary dentition occurred much more slowly than in carnivorans.