Pterodon fossil map
Where fossils of Pterodon have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 30 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 30 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 | 48.07–11.63 million years ago (Lutetian to Serravallian) |
| Periods | Paleogene, Neogene |
| Family | Hyainailouridae |
| Named by | Blainville 1839 |
| Fossil records | 36 occurrences at 14 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Egypt, France, Kenya, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Namibia, China, Germany |
| Rock formations | txn:347511, Jebel Qatrani, Bembridge Limestone, Manchar, Shara Murum |
About Pterodon
Pterodon (Ancient Greek: πτερόν (wing) + ὀδούς (tooth) meaning "wing tooth") is an extinct genus of hyaenodont in the family Hyainailouridae, containing two species. The type species Pterodon dasyuroides is known exclusively from the Late Eocene of western Europe. The genus was first erected by the French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1839, who said that Georges Cuvier presented one of its fossils to a conference in 1828 but died before he could make a formal description of it. It was the second hyaenodont genus with taxonomic validity after Hyaenodon, but this resulted in taxonomic confusion over the validities of the two genera by other taxonomists. Although the taxonomic status of Pterodon was revised during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became a wastebasket taxon for other hyaenodont species found in Africa and Asia. Today, only the type species is recognized as belonging to the genus while just one is pending reassessment to another genus.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Pterodon (mammal) (revision 1380042297), 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: Q7256798.
