Mesonychia ("Middle Claws") are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates), and to cetaceans (dolphins and whales). A few experts unite Mesonychia with the whales to form the clade "Cete." They first appeared in the Early Paleocene and went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene and died out entirely when the last genus, Mongolestes became extinct in the Early Oligocene. Mesonychians probably originated in Asia, where the most primitive mesonychid, Yangtanglestes, is known from the early Paleocene. They were also most diverse in Asia where they occur in all major Paleocene faunas. Since other carnivores such as the creodonts and condylarths were either rare or absent in these animal communities, meson
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| - Mesonychia ("Middle Claws") are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates), and to cetaceans (dolphins and whales). A few experts unite Mesonychia with the whales to form the clade "Cete." They first appeared in the Early Paleocene and went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene and died out entirely when the last genus, Mongolestes became extinct in the Early Oligocene. Mesonychians probably originated in Asia, where the most primitive mesonychid, Yangtanglestes, is known from the early Paleocene. They were also most diverse in Asia where they occur in all major Paleocene faunas. Since other carnivores such as the creodonts and condylarths were either rare or absent in these animal communities, meson
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| - Andrewsarchus mongoliensis
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| - *Hapalodectidae
*Mesonychidae
*Triisodontidae
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| abstract
| - Mesonychia ("Middle Claws") are an extinct order of medium to large-sized carnivorous mammals that were closely related to artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates), and to cetaceans (dolphins and whales). A few experts unite Mesonychia with the whales to form the clade "Cete." They first appeared in the Early Paleocene and went into a sharp decline at the end of the Eocene and died out entirely when the last genus, Mongolestes became extinct in the Early Oligocene. Mesonychians probably originated in Asia, where the most primitive mesonychid, Yangtanglestes, is known from the early Paleocene. They were also most diverse in Asia where they occur in all major Paleocene faunas. Since other carnivores such as the creodonts and condylarths were either rare or absent in these animal communities, mesonychians most likely dominated the large predator niche in the Paleocene of Asia. One genus, Dissacus, successfully spread to Europe and North America by the early Paleocene. Dissacus was a jackal-sized carnivore that has been found all over the northern hemisphere, but its daughter genus, Ankalagon, from the early to middle Paleocene of New Mexico was far larger, growing to the size of a bear. Species of the later genus, Pachyaena, entered North America by the earliest Eocene, where they evolved into huge species surpassing even Ankalagon in size. Mesonychians in North America were by far the largest predatory mammals during the early Paleocene to middle Eocene.
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