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New early carnivoran specimens from the Puercan (Earliest Paleocene) of Saskatchewan, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Richard C. Fox
Affiliation:
1Laboratory for Vertebrate Paleontology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, Canada,
Craig S. Scott
Affiliation:
2Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, P.O. Box 7500, Drumheller, Alberta, T0J 0Y0, Canada,
Brian D. Rankin
Affiliation:
3Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada,

Abstract

New specimens of an as yet unidentified carnivoran from the earliest Paleocene of Saskatchewan are described. The new specimens augment the evidence on which the contentious earliest (middle Puercan) occurrence of Carnivora is based, provide novel information of the lower dentition of the earliest carnivorans, and provides evidence for the earliest taxonomic diversity in Carnivora.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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