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National Geographic

Near perfect skull of apex predator reveals its 'meat cleaving bite'

Clues about a predator's powerful bite Fossils similar to Bastetodon had been found in Africa before, and previous generations of paleontologists classified them as another hyaenodont from Europe called Pterodon. The new fossil, however, shows that the fossil found in the Fayum is something new. 'They make a good case that Bastetodon is a distinct new genus,' says Swedish Museum of Natural History paleontologist Lars Werdelin, who was not involved in the new study. In life, Al-Ashqar and colleagues estimate, Bastetodon would have been about 60 pounds. It was not one of the largest hyaenodonts, but neither was it one of the smallest. The fossil mammal's body mass, Werdelin notes, would have been comparable to that of a striped hyena or small female leopard. The teeth of Bastetodon show the prehistoric mammal's ability to shear flesh. Whereas fossil skulls are often missing teeth, the cranium of Bastetodon includes a complete upper row of teeth up to the canine. The arrangement indicated that Bastetodon had fewer teeth than some other hyaenodonts, missing a premolar and a molar seen in other species. That gives Bastetodon a relatively short, broad, and more cat-like snout best suited to delivering powerful bites.