Metahapalodectes

Metahapalodectes is an extinct mesonychid mesonychian from Late Eocene strata of Southeastern Mongolia.^[1]

Metahapalodectes Temporal range: 48.6–37.2 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Restoration of M. makhchinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Mesonychia
Family:	†Mesonychidae
Genus:	†Metahapalodectes Dashzeveg, 1976
Species:	†M. makhchinus
Binomial name
†Metahapalodectes makhchinus Dashzeveg, 1976

Similar to Lohoodon, Metahapalodectes was originally described as a large hapalodectid^[2] on the basis of teeth and jaw fragments very similar to Hapalodectes, but suggesting an animal comparable in size to Mesonyx. In 1987, Ting & Li refer Lohoodon and Metahapalodectes to Mesonychidae due to the lower molar teeth of both genera lacking a re-entrant groove on the mesial or anterior side, a feature diagnostic of Hapalodectidae.^[3][4]