Dinosorex
Dinosorex is an extinct eulipotyphlan genus, popularly referred to as giant terror shrews[1] due to their fearsome lower incisors. Dinosorex lived in Europe from the late Oligocene or early Miocene to the late Miocene, with a range that stretched from Ukraine to Iberia.[2] It was about the size of a modern hedgehog, but its enlarged and strengthened incisors (which have been found to contain iron particles within the enamel) may have allowed it to adopt a partially carnivorous diet, as opposed to the strictly insectivorous diet of most modern mammals of that size.[1]
| Dinosorex | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Family: | Heterosoricidae |
| Genus: | Dinosorex Engesser, 1972 |
Taxonomy
The genus was described in 1972 by B. Engesser.[3] It comprises the following species:[4]
- D. anatolicus
- D. engesseri
- D. huerzeleri
- D. pachygnathus
- D. sansaniensis
- D. zapfei
References
- Hogenboom, Melissa (27 April 2015). "Mystery of the Giant Terror Shrew". BBC Earth. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- Furió, M.; et al. (2015). Three million years of "Terror-Shrew" (Dinosorex, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) in the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Barcelona, Spain). Comptes Rendus Palevol.
- Engesser, B. (1972). "Die obermiozäne Säugetierfauna von Anwil (Baselland); (The Upper Miocene mammalian fauna of Anwil, Baselland)". Tätigkeitsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Baselland. 28: 35–364.
- "†Dinosorex Engesser 1972 (placental)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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