Tytthaena

Tytthaena ("little hyena") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from extinct subfamily Tytthaeninae within extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in North America from the late Paleocene to early Eocene.^[1]

Tytthaena Temporal range: 58.9–55.4 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ late Paleocene - early Eocene[1]
part of left maxilla of Tytthaena parrisi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Clade:	Pan-Carnivora
Order:	†Oxyaenodonta
Family:	†Oxyaenidae
Subfamily:	†Tytthaeninae Gunnell & Gingerich, 1991[2]
Genus:	†Tytthaena Gingerich, 1980[3]
Type species
†Tytthaena parrisi Gingerich, 1980
Species
†T. lichna (Rose, 1981)[4] †T. parrisi Gingerich, 1980[3]
Synonyms
synonyms of subfamily: Tyttaeninae Lavrov, 1999[5] synonyms of genus: Tyttaena Lavrov, 1999 synonyms of species: T. lichna: Oxyaena lichna Rose, 1981

Description

Tytthaena is the smallest oxyaenid known. Morphologically, it resembles Oxyaena. It can be distinguished from other oxyaenids by its size and dentition. Its molars were narrow, with elongate talonids.^[3][4]