Creodonts

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An extinct group of carnivorous mammals that lived from the Paleocene to the Pleistocene, known for their diverse teeth structures adapted for meat-eating; they were early predators that rivaled modern carnivores in ecological roles
2. A prehistoric lineage of carnivorous mammals characterized by specialized dentition suited for slicing flesh, which thrived during the Cenozoic era before becoming extinct; they were important in the evolutionary history of mammalian predators
3. Fossil carnivores from ancient epochs exhibiting a variety of tooth forms for capturing and consuming prey, representing an early branch of mammalian carnivores that eventually disappeared from the fossil record

Etymology: "Creodonts" is the plural of "creodont," and the word is a modern scientific coinage built from two Greek roots: "kréas," meaning flesh, and "odont-," meaning tooth. Its name thus describes the group's defining trait in a single compound, the same way "meat-tooth" would. Nothing in the word's making goes back to the ancient Greeks, who had no such group to name. The animals themselves were an early branch of the carnivorous mammals, and their name reflects the striking variety of their teeth, which were shaped for slicing and crushing flesh. They lived from the Paleocene, shortly after the dinosaurs disappeared, into the Pleistocene, and in that long stretch they filled predatory roles that later carnivores would take up.

Synonyms: Creodont