Megistotherium

Common card · No. 399288

Megistotherium ("greatest beast") is an extinct genus of very large hyaenodont belonging to the family Hyainailouridae that lived in Africa and possibly Asia during the early-middle Miocene epoch, with possible earliest late Miocene records. The first specimen, a near-complete skull, was discovered in 1963 by Robert J. G. Savage in Libya, and was kept at the Natural History Museum in London alongside postcrania discovered in the prior few years. In 1973, Savage described Megistotherium based on these elements, with the skull serving as the type specimen. It was later determined that the assigned postcrania actually came from an amphicyonid, or "bear-dog". One species of Megistotherium, M. osteothlastes, has been described. There is some debate over whether Megistotherium is a genus of its own or a junior synonym of another, related genus, Hyainailouros. Due to the paucity of material assigned to Megistotherium, size estimates for the genus have varied considerably over the years. The estimate...

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