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Tritemnodon Agilis: Height, Weight, Color

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Pictus | 01:05 Mon 25th Sep 2006 | Animals & Nature
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Greetings info-allies. I find myself in a bit of a spot, and was wondering if anyone could help. I need to know the Shoulder Height, potential Weight, and possible Coloration of North America's ancient carnivore Tritemnodon Agilis.
Tritemnodon Agilis was a creodont of the Hyaenodontidae family. It lived approximately 50-35 million Years ago, during the Eocene epoch. Fossils have been discovered in Wyoming, and while mentioned briefly throughout the web, very little information denoting its specifics remains openly available. The vast majority of sites I have discovered are PDF Files - strictly limited to those with access to their current Holders (Libraries, Research Centers, Magazine Publishers, etc�) and many publicly available are either scribed in a foreign language, or in dispute with other data I have discovered.

Please, if you have any new information, I would greatly appreciate it. As I'm sure many of you know, take care in researching this little ******, as there are many genres and subspecies of Tritemnodon aside from T.Agilis.
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Didn't realize ^bugg.er was cause for an Edit. Sorry folks.

Anyways, this is what I have found so far�

I have an old book, published in the 1970-1980s, stating that members of the Hyaenodontidae family ranged anywhere between the size of weasels and wolves - but this is a very broad description, as a creature�s individual mass cannot be clumped into a basic �Family� genus. (For example - both Panthera leo and Pardofelis marmorata are members of the Felidae Family, but it is quite apparent that the African Lion is far larger than the Marbled Cat.) A participant at InfoHub posted that it was comparable to a Wolf - but the individual does not state where this information was ascertained. For all I know, he/she may have used the same book - but did not read between the lines.

http://www.infohub.com/forums/showthread.php?t =8476

The Following Link declares that early species of Tritemnodon would have been more scansorial than those of the Sinopa variety (another archaic predator) which insinuates a relatively light frame - but to what degree remains unclear. Was it extremely scansorial, moderately, or barely at all? Was it a nimble, raccoon-sized carnivore that skittered from branch to branch daily, or a larger, fox-like critter, that merely climbed on occasion?

http://www.svpca.org/years/2000_portsmouth/abs tracts/abstractsae.html

T.Agilis is often cataloged as a proviverrine - the term viverrine meaning �..of or pertaining to the Viverridae, a family of small carnivorous mammals including the civets, genets, palm cats, etc�� and the word Pro ��prior to, beforehand, earlier than�� or possibly denoting details �...in favor of�� of extant members of the viverrine family. Does this also give an indicator
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(Continued From Above)
of size, or simply certain physical characteristics such as claws, teeth, etc..?

There is a sculpture floating about - but its dimensions were not delivered, nor was the possibility that its proportions are based on a realistic scale ever announced.

http://epa.oszk.hu/00700/00775/00061/2003_12_2 3.html

I have found a few Black and White images depicting T.Agilis - a very detailed picture located in an old encyclopedia, and a couple on the www(one of which shows Tritemnodon standing on a large rock. The surrounding foliage causes T.Agilis to look small - but it could simply be standing adjacent to some very large weeds). The book does not give a means of scale, but the black and white feather and ink image does, located here:

http://victorian.fortunecity.com/tollington/12 30/Bw/TRITEMNODON.htm

The article below the picture, once translated, states that the tail of T.Agilis could stretch up to 1.5 meters long in certain specimens, but the Shoulder Height itself is not given. It depicts T.Agilis hunting Orohippus, an ancient horse of the same time period. They are relatively equal in size. Orohippus was around 30 inches tall (though heights are in conflict, some are as little as 10, others as large as 40). This would cause me to assume that T.Agilis was of similar stature - but who am I to say the image is a correct rendition in the first place?
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As for color, the majority of visuals posted on the net referring to Tritemnodon are black and white, or DeviantArt illustrations lacking the much desired revelation of their scientific background. Theory has it that T.Agilis had a spotted coat, and a stripped tail - but an overall hue is undetermined. One artist claimed that Tritemnodon was meant to be a dark brown - but this comment may have been the artist�s preference, and so must be regarded as a colorful opinion, until further clarified.

Again, if you have any new statistics, please offer input. Your contribution would be most valued. I didn't mean to flood the boards, so thank you everyone, for enduring the lengthy posts.
Having received training in Geology at the University of Wyoming, I find that some rather ancient textbooks I still have describe T.agilis in Spartan terms. Here is s synopsis of one site:
Tritemnodon was a genus of Creodonts that lived during the Eocene (54-38 million years ago). Fossils of them have some have been found in the Willwood Formation of Big Horn County, Wyoming. Some Tritemnodon fossils have also been unearthed in the Lower Bridger Formation of Uinta County, Wyoming. Tritemnodon's size was comparable to that of a wolf. However, it was not related to wolves. Wolves are of the order Carnivora. Tritemnodon is in the order Creodonta. Like other creodonts, Tritemnodon was a meat eater. It is classified in the family Hyaenodontidae, which also includes Hyaenodon, Sinopa, Arfia, Pterodon, and many other genera. More genera and species of Hyaenodontidae have been identified than of any other Creodont family. Here's the URL for the site for citation: http://www.infohub.com/forums/printthread.php? t=8476

Sorry I couldn't have been of more help...
Well, even more apologies since you're following posts weren't there when I began and you already have the information I provided. The S.H. Knight Geology Museum at the U. of Wyoming has a good collection but the focus is on Dinosaurs of various species rather than mammalia... I seem to recall examples of T. agilis fossils, but, sadly, no reconstructions... Best of luck!

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