Meniscotherium tapiacitum (Cope 1874; Williamson and Lucas 1992; Middle Eocene 54-38 mya; 25-50 cm long) nests with Astrapotherium in a marsupial clade near Monodelphis domestica. The incisor canines were reduced here. That happens because fossils are so rare. The skeleton above is Meniscotherium.
Ocepeia daouiensis (Gheerbrant et al 2001, 2014; Paleocene, 60 mya; 9 cm skull length) is from Morocco. Here it nests with Orthaspidotherium and Meniscotherium. The pneumatized skull contains many air spaces. Slightly larger skulls have larger canines and so are considered male, but may just be older. This specimen has only a tiny canine on a broken maxilla. The molar teeth are relatively large and the jugal deepens below the orbit, hiding the posterior molars in lateral view. Note the dorsal eyes, as in hippos. Ocepeia was found with aquatic taxa and was probably amphibious. The name Ocepeia derives from the initials of Office Chérifien des Phosphates (O.C.P.), the national Moroccan phosphate mining company.
Orthaspidotherium edwardsi (Ladeveze et al. 2010; Late Paleocene, 58 mya, 7.5cm skull length) nests with Meniscotherium. The skull is twice as wide as tall on this weasel-like terrestrial mammal. The jawline is convex at the canine and beneath the orbit. The lacrimal/jugal/zygomatic arch is quite robust. |
