creodont

American  

[kree-uh-dont] / ˈkri əˌdɒnt /

noun

1. any of a diverse group of extinct predatory mammals, from the Paleocene to Pleistocene epochs, that constituted the suborder Creodonta, of the order Carnivora, developing along evolutionary lines somewhat parallel to those of the ancestors of modern carnivores and typically having a stocky, doglike body and a long, low skull.

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creodont British  

/ ˈkriːəˌdɒnt /

noun

1. any of a group of extinct Tertiary mammals some of which are thought to have been the ancestors of modern carnivores: order Carnivora

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creodont Scientific  

/ krē′ə-dŏnt′ /

1. Any of various extinct carnivorous mammals of the order Creodonta of the Paleocene to the Pliocene Epochs. Creodonts had long, low skulls with crests to which chewing muscles were attached. They were the dominant carnivorous mammals for millions of years, and were once believed to be ancestral to modern carnivores.

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Etymology

Origin of creodont

< New Latin Creodonta (1875) name of the group, equivalent to cre- (< Greek kréas flesh) + -odont- -odont + -a neuter plural ending

Example Sentences

These tracks might have been made by a creodont, a predatory mammal about the size of a house cat, which flourished in the Paleocene and Eocene in Europe, Africa and North America.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2023

Take a seat in his bathroom and you found yourself facing the faintly smirking skull of Doris, a prehistoric creodont.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

The well-known plantigrade tread of bears is a primitive characteristic which has survived from their creodont ancestry.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon

This order, which includes lemurs, monkeys, apes, and man, seems to have sprung from a creodont or insectivorous ancestry in the lower Eocene.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon

The creodont genera Stypolophus and Proviverra show some of these modern characters; but it is not till we reach the European Oligocene genus Amphictis, with the dental formula i.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various