Peignictis pseudamphictis, Bonis & Gardin & Blondel, 2019

Bonis, Louis de, Gardin, Axelle & Blondel, Cécile, 2019, Carnivora from the early Oligocene of the ‘ Phosphorites du Quercy’ in southwestern France, Geodiversitas 41 (15), pp. 601-621 : 615

Peignictis pseudamphictis n. gen., n. sp.

( Fig. 4H )

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C96DF1A3-816B-4BD7-9635-28223CFDA804

TYPE SPECIMEN. — Holotype: posterior part of hemi-mandible, UM VD1 .

DIAGNOSIS. — That of the genus

TYPE LOCALITY. — Valbro (Lot, France).

GEOLOGICAL AGE. — Early Oligocene (MP 22)

ETYMOLOGY. — Parallelism with Amphictis in the lack of m3 and elongate m2.

DESCRIPTION

UM VD1 from Valbro is a piece of hemi-mandible broken in front of m1 and with an unworn m1 and alveoli of m2, (length of m1 = 5.3 mm; w of trm1 = 2.8 mm; w of tlm1 = 2; height of the corpus under m1-m2 = 5.1; length of m2 from the alveoli = 2.5 mm). The ascending ramus, whose tip is broken off, is broad at the level of the condyle but narrowing upwards because the distal border is mesially oblique ( Fig. 4H 1-H 3 ). The large and deep masseteric fossa extends mesially to the level of m2 and dorsally it diminishes gently without any trace of a boundary. The condyle is situated high (38 mm higher than the base of the angular process compared with 28 mm higher in Mustelictis olivieri of similar size). The angular process is flat, mesially situated relative to the condyle and not distally projected. The m1trigonid is high with a vertical distal wall, while the protoconid and paraconid form a shearing blade. The pointed metaconid is higher than the paraconid but not clearly reduced nor distally displaced. The talonid basin is flat and surrounded by a low uninterrupted cristid in which we cannot distinguish the cuspids. Buccally, there is a well-marked notch between protoconid and hypocristid. Two alveoli, the mesial being the larger, indicate the length of m2. It is very long for an early Oligocene carnivoran. This is a parallelism with the geologically younger Amphictis. However, the overall morphology of the latter is different in having a lower and less pointed m1 trigonid. Thus, VD1 exhibits some contradictory characters, e.g., a cutting trigonid associated with a grinding talonid. We don’t know any evolutionary history of this structure. The closest genus to Peignictis n. gen. is Mustelictis , which differs in having a slightly lower m1 trigonid, a more shearing m1 talonid and a shorter m2.

Figures

FIG. 4. — A, Mustelictis cf. major, right hemi-mandible with p2-p4-m1, UM VD17, in buccal (A1), lingual (A2), and occlusal (A3) views; B, Mustelictis aff. olivieri, left hemi-mandible with p4-m2, UP LPL12, in buccal (B1), lingual (B2), and occlusal (B3) views; C-E, Mustelictis aff. olivieri; C, left m1, UP LPL11, in buccal (C1), and lingual (C2) views; D, right m1, UM VBOA3-4, in buccal (D1) view, occlusal (D2) view, and lingual (D3) views; E, right hemi-mandible with d3-d4, UP MGB6, in lingual (E1), and buccal (E2) views; F, Mustelictis olivieri, left mandible with p3-m1, UP MGB8, in buccal (F1), and lingual (F2) views; G, Mustelictis aff. olivieri, right hemi-mandible with p2-p4, UM VD12, in buccal (G1) view, and lingual (G2) views; H, Peignictis pseudamphictis n. gen., n. sp., right hemimandible with m1, UM VD1, in buccal (H1), lingual (H2), and occlusal (H3) views. Scale bars: 5 mm.

FIG. 1. — A, Amphicynodon sp. 1: left hemi-mandible UP VAL2, in buccal (A1), lingual (A2), and occlusal (A3) views; B, Amphicynodon typicus: left mandible UP VAL1, in buccal (B1), lingual (B2), and occlusal (B3) views; C, Amphicynodon sp. 3: right M1, UM VD49, in occlusal view; D, Amphicynodon sp. 2: right M1, UM VBO492, in occlusal view. Scale bars: A, B, 10 mm; C, D, 5 mm.

FIG. 3. — A, Pachycynodon sp. 3, left M1-M2, UM VD47, in occlusal view; B, Pachycynodon cf. filholi, UM VD5, left hemi-mandible, in buccal (B1), lingual (B2), and occlusal (B3) views; C-E, Pachycynodon cf. dubius; C, left hemi-mandible UM VD14, in buccal (C1), lingual (C2), and occlusal (C3) views; D, right hemimandible UM VD4, in lingual (D1) and buccal (D2) views; E, right hemimandible VD6, in buccal (E1), and occlusal (E2) views; F, Cephalogale sp., left mandible UP MGB26, in lingual (F1), and buccal (F2) views; G, Pachycynodon sp. 5, left P4 UP VD51, in occlusal (G1), and mesial (G2) views; H, Pachycynodon cf. filholi, right m2, UP LPL14, in occlusal view. Scale bars: 5 mm.