Synoplotherium

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Eocene}}

| image = Synoplotherium species Yale.jpg

| image_caption = Synoplotherium lanius skeleton on display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History (holotype of Dromocyon vorax).

| taxon = Synoplotherium

| authority = Cope, 1872

| type_species = †Synoplotherium lanius

| type_species_authority = Cope, 1872

| synonyms = * Dromocyon vorax Marsh, 1876

}}

Synoplotherium (synonym Dromocyon) is an extinct genus of relatively small, wolf-like mesonychids that lived 50 million years ago, in what is now Wyoming.

File:Synoplotherium112DB.jpg

File:Synoplotherium.jpg]]

Synoplotherium coexisted with its larger relative, Mesonyx. Very little else remains known about this mesonychid since its discovery in 1875.{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/yale-s-mysterious-fossil-beast/|title=Yale's Mysterious Fossil Beast}}

==Pathology==

The specimen of Synoplotherium on display at the Peabody Museum of Natural History has a fractured lower jaw. The jaw is cracked right at the midpoint and shows signs of healing. Evidence in the form of its worn down teeth show the animal survived to old age.