Sup peeps Lion here, I know its been a while but excrement hit the fan over at my place so I'm sorry for being so slack on the news. I've grouped together the best of the Cenozoic news since I've been away.

12 Million Year Old Dog – Cynarctus wangi:

A student at the university of Pennsylvania has identified a brand new species of dog. The specimen was discovered in Maryland and would have roamed the eastern coast of North America. The species is a coyote-sized member of the extinct Borophaginae family, commonly known as bone-crushing dogs because of their powerful jaws and broad teeth.

“Borophagine dogs were widespread and diverse in North America from around 30 million to about 10 million years ago. The last members went extinct around 2 millions of years ago during the late Pliocene. C. wangi represents one of the last surviving borophagines and was likely outcompeted by ancestors of some of the canines living today: wolves, coyotes and foxes.”

For further reading click the link below: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160511122514.htm

’Killer Walrus’ Theory Slashed:

Many of you may remember the stir Pelagiarctos caused a few years ago when theories were developed over its diet. It was said that the ancient Pinniped fed on large prey which would include other marine mammals. However, a team of researchers compared the teeth of Pelagiarctos to modern walrus and seals, it clearly showed it wasn’t into red meat.

”Pelagiarctos was originally thought to have been a "killer walrus" that fed on large prey such as other marine mammals, but we found it has an enamel layer reasonably similar to that of modern New Zealand fur seals and sea lions, which are fish and squid eaters," Dr Loch says.”

For further reading click the link below: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160509101722.htm

Early Primates Not Cool With Global Cooling:

In a study to be published this week in the journal Science, researchers describe unearthing a "mother lode" of a half-dozen fossil primate species in southern China. We have very little fossil evidence of Primates just after the Eocene-Oligocene transition because the populations were slashed by drastic cooling in Asia.

"The fossil record usually gives you a snapshot here or there of what ancient life was like. You typically don't get a movie," Beard said. "We have so many primates from the Oligocene at this particular site because it was located far enough to the south that it remained warm enough during that cold, dry time that primates could still survive there. They crowded into the limited space that remained available to them.
Beard said that if not for the intense global cooling of the Eocene-Oligocene transition, the main stage of primate evolution may have continued to be in Asia, rather than transitioning to Africa where Homo sapiens eventually emerged. Indeed, the team's findings underscore a vulnerability to climate change shared by all primates.

For further reading click the link below: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160505144733.htm

Thanks for reading!