paenungulates

Paenungulates are an extinct group of mid-to-large-sized mammals that lived during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, approximately 60-40 million years ago. The name "paenungulates" comes from the Greek paenungo, meaning "many front teeth", which refers to the characteristic feature of this group: the presence of many incisors in the upper jaw.

Paenungulates are considered to be part of the larger clade Paenungulata, which also includes modern elephants, manatees, and hyraxes. They were generally robust and herbivorous, with adaptations such as powerful jaws and cheek teeth that allowed them to efficiently eat tough plant material. Many paenungulates were also characterized by the presence of a pair of incisors in the lower jaw, which were often single-rooted and different from the multiple-rooted upper incisors.

Fossil evidence suggests that paenungulates were wide-ranging and diverse, with at least three distinct lineages identified. Some of the earliest known paenungulates were long-snouted, elephant-like animals, while later forms were more specialized and resembled miniature elephants. The largest known paenungulate, the genus Numairova, is estimated to have weighed over 2 metric tons.

Despite their diversity and abundance, paenungulates eventually went extinct at the end of the Eocene epoch. The exact reasons for their disappearance are not well understood, although climate change and competition with other herbivores may have played a role. Today, paenungulates are of interest primarily to paleontologists and evolutionary biologists, who study their fossil remains to gain insights into mammalian evolution and the history of terrestrial ecosystems.