Dissacus fossil map
Where fossils of Dissacus have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 56 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 56 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 66–48.07 million years ago (Danian to Ypresian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Mesonychidae |
| Named by | Cope 1881 |
| Fossil records | 194 occurrences at 60 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, China, France, Mongolia, Spain, Mexico, Canada, Belgium |
| Rock formations | txn:42909, Fort Union, Willwood, Nacimiento, Nomogen, Hanna |
About Dissacus
Dissacus is a paraphyletic extinct genus of faunivore jackal to coyote-sized Mesonychidae, a family of hoofed mammals part of the extinct order Mesonychia. Their fossils in Early Paleocene to Middle Eocene aged strata in Eurasia and North America. Dissacus europaeus likely evolved from a population of North America Dissacus that migrated to Europe, and first appeared in European strata in the Thanetian (c. 58-57 MYA). A phylogenetic analysis of European mesonychids suggests that Dissacus was part of an early diversification of species in the Paleocene, and other genera diversified in a later episode in the early Eocene. D. europaeus survived the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, a period of severe global warming, which suggests it had flexible habits. Orientation patch analysis of the molar teeth of the North American D. praenuntius suggests its faunivore with consisted diet consisting of meat, although it wasn’t a hypercarnivore such a felid or weasel, instead having a diet similar to brown hyenas where insects and plant matter made up a small proportion of its diet. It shared its environment with other omnivorous mammals of a similar body size such as Palaeonictis, although Dissacus had a greater preference of meat.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Dissacus (revision 1379572314), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q3494244.
