Osmotherium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Osmotherium is an extinct genus of skunk from Pleistocene North America. it contains a single species, Osmotherium spelaeum.[1] The genus name, Osmotherium, hails from Aincient Greek, osmḗ, "smell"; and therium, "beast"; meaning smelly beast. The species name, spelaeum, Latin for "cave", in reference to the sole locality which its remains have been found in, Port Kennedy Bone Cave.
Osmotherium | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | |
Phylum: | |
Class: | |
Order: | |
Family: | |
Genus: | Osmotherium Cope, 1896 |
Type species | |
Osmotherium spelaeum Cope, 1896 |
While fragmentary, Osmotherium spelaeum's jaws are the most prominent of any other Mephitid in the locality, with Cope himself describing 6 different specimens, although attributing some to Mephitis, Brachyprotoma and the now defunct Pelycictis.[2][3][4]
While information on these fragmentary remains scarce, in 2005 Wang et al.'s description of Martinogale faulli, Osmotherium was recovered as a sister genus to Mephitis: [5]