View source for Hapalodectes

{{short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|61.1|37.2}} [[Late Paleocene]] to [[Middle Eocene]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=PBDB|url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42906&is_real_user=1|access-date=2021-08-26|website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref>
| image = Hapalodectes IVPP.jpg
| image_caption = Skull (IVPP V12385) of ''H. hetangensis'', [[Paleozoological Museum of China]]
| taxon = Hapalodectes
| authority = [[W. D. Matthew|Matthew]], 1909
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''''Hapalodectes''''' (literal translation 'soft biter'; from {{langx|grc|ἁπαλός}} {{lang|grc-Latn|hapalos}} ('soft, tender') and {{lang|grc|δῆκτῆς}} {{lang|grc-Latn|dêktês}} ('biter')) is an [[Extinction|extinct]] [[genus]] of [[otter]]-like [[Mesonychia|mesonychians]] from the [[Late Paleocene]] to [[Early Eocene]], some 55{{nbsp}}million years ago. Although the first [[Fossil|fossils]] were found in the Eocene [[Stratum|strata]] of [[Wyoming]], the genus originated in [[Mongolia]], as the oldest [[species]] is ''H. dux'', which was found in Late Paleocene strata in the Naran Bulak Formation.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Earliest Hapalodectes (Mesonychia, Mammalia) from the Paleocene of Mongolia|last=Lopatin|first=A. V.|journal=[[Paleontological Journal]]|volume=35|number=4|year=2001|pages=426–432|url=http://www.maik.ru/abstract/paleng/1/paleng4_1p426abs.htm|access-date=11 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172706/http://www.maik.ru/abstract/paleng/1/paleng4_1p426abs.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03}}</ref>
[[File:Hapalodectes restoration Stanton Fink 2.png|left|thumb|Life restoration of ''H. serus'']]
The genus was once suggested to be related to the [[Archaeoceti]], such as ''[[Pakicetus]]'', due to numerous similarities between the [[skull]] and [[tooth]] anatomies of the two genera. Now, however, ''Hapalodectes'' and other mesonychians are thought to be related to [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] [[artiodactyl]]s, while the Archaeoceti are now determined to be descended from more [[Derived (phylogenetics)|derived]] artiodactyls, like ''[[Indohyus]]'', which are related to [[hippopotamus]]es and [[anthracothere]]s.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}

''H. dux'' possessed distinct conules on its upper [[molars]].<ref name="LopatinAV2024HapalodectesSkullMongolia">{{Cite journal |last=Lopatin |first=A. V. |date=11 November 2024 |title=The skull of Hapalodectes (Hapalodectidae, Mesonychia) from the Paleocene of Mongolia |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0012496624600453 |journal=[[Doklady Biological Sciences]] |language=en |doi=10.1134/S0012496624600453 |issn=0012-4966 |access-date=21 November 2024 |via=Springer Nature Link}}</ref>

==Species==
*Genus ''Hapalodectes''
** ''H. anthracinus'' <small>Zhou et Gingerich, 1991</small>
** ''H. dux'' <small>Lopatin, 1999</small>
** ''H. hetangensis'' <small>Ting et Li, 1987</small>
** ''H. huanghaiensis'' <small>Tong et Wang, 2006</small>
** ''H. leptognathus'' <small>Osborn et Wortman, 1892</small>
** ''H. lopatini'' <small>Solé et al., 2017</small>
** ''H. paleocenus'' <small>Beard et al., 2010</small>
** ''H. serus'' <small>Matthew et Granger, 1925</small>

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Mesonychia}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q901748}}

[[Category:Mesonychia]]
[[Category:Paleocene mammals]]
[[Category:Eocene mammals]]
[[Category:Ypresian extinctions]]
[[Category:Paleogene mammals of Asia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric placental genera]]


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