{{Short description|Extinct genus of mesonychid mammal}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{Fossil range|48.6|37.2}} | image = Metahapalodectes makhchinus restoration.jpg | image_caption = Restoration of ''M. makhchinus'' | genus = Metahapalodectes | parent_authority = Dashzeveg, 1976 | species = makhchinus | authority = Dashzeveg, 1976 }}
'''''Metahapalodectes''''' is an extinct mesonychid mesonychian from Late Eocene strata of Southeastern Mongolia.<ref name=Tsubamoto>Tsubamoto, Takehisa, et al. "Fossil evidence of a mesonychid mammal from the upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, Mongolia." Paleontological Research 16.2 (2012): 171-174.</ref>
Similar to ''Lohoodon'', ''Metahapalodectes'' was originally described as a large hapalodectid<ref name=Dashzeveg>DASHZEVEG, D. 1976. Novyye mezonikyidy (Condylarthra, Mesonychidae) iz paleogena Mongolii [New mesonychids (Condylarthra, Mesonychidae) from the early Paleogene of Mongolia]. In: Paleontologiya i Biostratigrapfiya Mongolii, N. N. Kramarenko (eds.), Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition, Moscow, 3: 14-31.</ref> on the basis of teeth and jaw fragments very similar to ''Hapalodectes'', but suggesting an animal comparable in size to ''Mesonyx''. In 1987, Ting & Li refer ''Lohoodon'' and ''Metahapalodectes'' to Mesonychidae due to the lower molar teeth of both genera lacking a re-entrant groove on the mesial or anterior side, a feature diagnostic of Hapalodectidae.<ref name=soflu>SolÚ, FlorÚal, et al. "The first species of Hapalodectes (Mesonychia, Mammalia) from the middle Paleocene of China (Qianshan Basin, Anhui Province) sheds light on the initial radiation of hapalodectids." Palaeontology 60.3 (2017): 433-449.</ref><ref name=ting&li>TING and L I , C. K. 1987. The skull of Hapalodectes (Acreodi, Mammalia), with notes on some Chinese Paleocene mesonychids. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 25, 161–186.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42924 Paleo Database] *[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42924 Paleo Taxamony]
{{Mesonychia}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q6822532}}
Category:Mesonychia Category:Eocene mammals of Asia Category:Prehistoric placental genera Category:Fossil taxa described in 1976
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