Harpagolestes ("hooked thief") is an extinct genus of hyena like, bear sized mesonychidmesonychian that lived in Central and Eastern Asia and western and central North America during the middle to late Eocene. It has been suggested that Harpagolestes is a wastebasket genus for fragmentary Eocene mesonychids.[2]
Description
H. orientalis
Harpagolestes was a large animal, with a skull length of a half a meter in some species.[3] Fossil specimens have been recovered in the United States, Canada, Mongolia, China, and controversially North Korea.[1]Harpagolestes exhibits strong, curved canine teeth, a deep lower jaw, massive skull, and heavy wear on the molars. This along with stout limb bones suggest that Harpagolestes was a scavenger and did not pursue its prey. The wear on the molars suggests it regularly cracked bones.[3] The poorly known North Korean "H." koreanicus was named based on three isolated teeth, but other researchers found the teeth insufficient for a diagnosis and the holotype of this species is currently lost.[2][4]
