New Fossil Carnivore discovered in Egypt

[Still Waters]

A new and very toothy fossil carnivore has just been discovered in Egypt, and corresponding research could help to explain why our early primate relatives tried to spend as much time as possible in trees.
 
The meat lover has been named Masrasector nananubis, after the canine-headed Egyptian god Anubis, who was associated with the afterlife. Unearthed at a site called “Locality 41” in Egypt’s Fayum Depression, located west of the Nile and south of Cairo, the new fossil is described in the journal PLOS ONE.

https://www.seeker.com/earth/animals/new-fossil-carnivore-may-explain-why-our-primate-relatives-stayed-in-trees

[oldrover]

Very interesting. But worth pointing out that that's 'carnivore' as in meat eater in this case, as opposed to 'carnivore' as in the order Carnivora, this was a Creodont. I like those. 

[Carnoferox]

It is interesting that they still refer it to the Creodonta, which has long been known as a polyphyletic wastebasket clade.

[oldrover]

13 minutes ago, Carnivorfox said:

It is interesting that they still refer it to the Creodonta, which has long been known as a polyphyletic wastebasket clade.

I'm a few decades out with my kniwledge of this. What's the thinking now?

[Carnoferox]

3 minutes ago, oldrover said:

I'm a few decades out with my kniwledge of this. What's the thinking now?

Currently the thought is that the Creodonta (which traditionally contains the clades Hyaenodontidae and Oxyaenidae) is polyphyletic, meaning that it contains genera that don't all share a common ancestor. The exact relationships of many of its members remains unclear, with the Creodonta sometimes serving as a grouping for many incertae sedis taxa. Extensive revision is needed to retain the validity of some of these clades (akin to Gauthier's redefining of Carnosauria and Coelurosauria within theropods).

[oldrover]

Thanks CF, so essentially it's a mess that needs sorting then? I do need to catch up with this as I say, I'm twenty years out of date.