PLOS Paleo's Blog has an article about a newly described canine-like fossil from Egypt. Masrasector nananubis, or little "Anubis", was a dog-like creature that lived during the late Eocene about 34 million years ago. The researchers that authored the open access paper are Matthew Borths from Ohio University and Erik Seiffert from the University of Southern California. The specimens were collected over more than a decade from the Fayum Depression in Egypt. An interview with Matthew Borths is available here.
The animal is known as a hyaenodont, which you might be able to guess from the name is a relative of modern hyenas and other doggos. In the past, these carnivores lived widely across Africa, Europe, Asia and North America, radiating after the extinction of the predatory dinosaurs.
However, the relationships of these hyaenodonts has been difficult to resolve in the past due to their poor fossil record, which almost exclusively comprises tooth remains. This is especially the case for a sub-group called teratodontines, an Afro-Arabian group which Masrasector was part of.
Thankfully, due to the amazing preservation of Masrasector’s skull, as well as some of its jaws and limb bones, researchers were able to show that Masrasector and other teratodontines were closely related to other hyaenodonts that had a hypercarnivorous diet – eating almost exclusively meat.
