Sinonyx was a wolf-like ungulate

Ungulate

Ungulates are several groups of mammals, most of which use the tips of their toes, usually hoofed, to sustain their whole body weight while moving. They make up several orders of mammals, of which six to eight survive...

 Mesonychid

Mesonychid

Mesonychia are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to artiodactyls and to cetaceans...

 mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

 from the late Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

 of China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 that lived about 56 million years ago. It was an early primitive form of mesonychid, which some experts regard as a distinctive group of carnivorous condylarths, which gave rise to artiodactyls. Sinonyx was discovered by Philip D. Gingerich

Philip D. Gingerich

Philip D. Gingerich is a Professor of Paleontology, Professor of Geological Sciences, Professor of Biology, Professor of Anthropology and Director, Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan. His research focus is in vertebrate paleontology, especially the Paleocene-Eocene transition and...

, director and curator of the Paleontology Museum at the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

, in Anhui

Anhui

Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...

 province, People’s Republic of China.

Sinonyx was about 5 feet long with a large elongated head, short legs and tiny hooves on all of its toes.