Tillodontia
Encyclopedia
Tillodontia is an extinct order of mammals that may be related to the pantodonts
. They were widespread across North America and Eurasia during the late Paleocene
and most of the Eocene
. They went extinct in Europe during the early Eocene, while North American and Asian forms survived until the middle Eocene. The last surviving tillodonts lived in China and disappeared during the late Eocene.
) could reach the size of a large bear. Their skulls range in length from 5 to 37 cm. Tillodonts probably fed primarily on roots and tubers in warm temperate to subtropical habitats.
Pantodonta
The Pantodonta are an order of now extinct placental mammals.Pantodonts are well known from the Paleocene of North America and Asia, and one early genus Alcidedorbignya, that was found in the Paleocene of South America...
. They were widespread across North America and Eurasia during 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...
and most of the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
. They went extinct in Europe during the early Eocene, while North American and Asian forms survived until the middle Eocene. The last surviving tillodonts lived in China and disappeared during the late Eocene.
Description
They had rodentlike incisors, clawed feet and blunt, cusped teeth. Tillodonts were mostly medium-sized animals, although the largest of them (such as TrogosusTrogosus
Trogosus is an extinct genus of tillodont mammal. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, and date from the Eocene between 54.8 to 33.7 million years ago....
) could reach the size of a large bear. Their skulls range in length from 5 to 37 cm. Tillodonts probably fed primarily on roots and tubers in warm temperate to subtropical habitats.