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Furodon is a genus of the order Hyaenodonta, extinct carnivorous mammals that may be close to predators. So far, it is known about only a small amount of found material, which is composed of a lower jaw and individual teeth. The remains suggest a small predator. He lived in the transition from the Lower to the Middle Eocene 49 to 45 million years ago in northern Africa. This is the oldest representative of the Teratodontinae to date. The genus was scientifically introduced in 2014. At first she was considered a member of another line of hyaenodonts.

description
Furodon is a small representative of the Hyaenodonta with an estimated body weight of 1.9 kg. So far, only the lower jaw and a few individual teeth are known. The horizontal bone body of the lower jaw was relatively low with no major differences between the anterior and posterior sections. The lower edge was slightly convex. The symphysis ended on the third premolar. A mental foramen was formed below the second and below between the third and fourth premolars. The crown process rose almost vertically, the articular process has only partially survived. A deep masseteric fossa was formed on the ascending branch.

The incisors are missing from the front three premolars only are alveoli handed. The canine was tall and oval in cross-section. There was no diastema between the individual premolars. The last premolar was somewhat elongated in length and highly triangular with a main cusp, the protoconid. This had a slightly asymmetrical shape. Additional humps were rather small. The molars were typically sectorialThe three main cusps comprised the meta-, para- and protoconid. Of these, the protoconide towered the highest, the paraconide was higher than the metaconide. The latter reduced its size from the first to the last molar noticeably. The reduced metaconid differs significantly from Glibzegdouia with its still very large metaconid. The talonid, a deeper area of ​​the chewing surface, was narrow and short, but also had small bumps. In the extent of the talonid, Furodon is more similar to Brychotherium than Glibzegdouia. The last premolar measured 6.3 mm in length. The teeth of the molar row increased in size continuously from front to back with the first molar slightly shorter than the fourth premolar and the last molar measuring 8.0 mm. Only a few molars have survived from the upper dentition. The main cusps here consisted of the meta-, para- and protoconus. Typically for the Teratodontinae, the meta- and paraconus were fused together at the base, the tips of the two cusps were free. In contrast to other members of the subfamily, the Paraconus rose above the Metaconus, but it was less developed overall. Both had a laterally pressed cross-section, which was stronger than the Masrasector. The protoconus was well developed. The average length of the first molar was 4.6 mm.

Fossil finds
Furodon has so far only been found in North Africa. The most important finds came to light in Gour Lazib in western Algeria. Gour Lazib, together with Glib Zegdou and Gour Idergane, forms a site complex (called "Hammada du Dra") that extends over 50 km away on the northwestern edge of the Sahara. The first finds here came to the fore in the 1970s,  to date, more than 500 fossil remains have been discovered, but most of them are small pieces. The numerous mammal material is made up of rodents, primates , bats , among others, Sniffers and elephants together. There are also birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Most of the remains come from the Glib-Zegdou Formation. This consists of clay, silt , sand and limestone. According to paleomagnetic studies, it dates back to the transition from the Lower to the Middle Eocene between 49 and 45 million years ago. The bone material of furodon, which emerged in the middle section of the Glib-Zegdou Formation, includes a lower jaw and individual isolated lower and upper molars. In addition to Furodon, other hyaenodonts have been described, such as Glibzegdouia and Parvavorodon.

Additional finds are documented from Chambi in northeastern Tunisia. There are around half a dozen isolated teeth, including some of the deciduous teeth. Chambi is comparable in age to Gour Lazib, and the fossil spectrum is also similar.

Systematics
Furodon is a genus from the extinct subfamily of the Teratodontinae within the also extinct order of the Hyaenodonta. Originally, the Hyaenodonta formed part of the Creodonta, some of which are sometimes misleadingly referred to as "primal carnivores". The Creodonta were considered to be the sister group of today's carnivores within the parent group of the Ferae. However, the Creodonta turned out to be a non-self-contained group in the following years, they were therefore divided into the Hyaenodonta and theOxyaenodonta split open. For both groups is an opposite predators further rearward shifted in the dentition refractive shear characteristic in the Hyaenodonten this was frequently out of the second upper jaw and the third molars. The hyaenodonts first appeared in the Middle Paleocene around 60 million years ago, they disappeared again in the Middle Miocene around 9 to 10 million years ago. The Teratodontinae are to be understood within the Hyaenodonta as the sister group of the Hyainailouridae family. Both together form the superordinate group of the Hyainailouroidea. The structure of the maxillary molars is characteristic of the Teratodontinae. In these, the para and metaconus merge at the base, the latter usually overhanging the former. In contrast to this, in the Hyainailouridae the Para- and Metaconus are united to the Amphiconus, in addition the Paraconus is higher than the Metaconus. In terms of the height of the two cusps, the Teratodontinae agree with the Hyaenodontidae, but in these the Para- and Metaconus are also fused to form an Amphiconus. Furodon is considered to be very basal within the Teratodontinae and, according to some phylogenetic studies, is compared to all other representatives of the subfamily as a sister taxon. According to other phylogenetic analyzes, the genus forms as a basal teratodontine a common clade with the relatives around Metasinopa.

The genus Furodon was first scientifically described in 2014 by Floréal Solé and fellow researchers. The basis was the found material from Gour Lazib in Algeria with the left lower jaw branch as a holotype (specimen number HGL 50bis-56). The generic name is made up of the Latin word for for “thief” and the Greek word ὀδούς ( odū́s ) for “tooth”. The only known species so far is Furodon crocheti. This was named after Jean-Yves Crochet, the numerous mammals of the Paleogenescientifically edited, including some hyaenodonts. In the first description, the team around Solé identified Furodon as an ancient representative of the Hyainailourinae, which was justified, among other things, with the reduction in size of the talonid and the size reduction of the metaconid on the lower molars. Later phylogenetic studies could only partially confirm this position, as they assigned the genus an intermediary role between the Hyainailourinae and the Teratodontinae. Other, much more extensive analyzes see furodonon the other hand as a basal member of the Teratodontinae. This classification results from the less simplified Talonid with individual marginal humps and the small but clearly developed Metaconid, which is mostly completely reduced in the Hyainailourines. As a result, Furodon's teeth do not appear as clearly hypercarnivorous as is the case with the Hyainailourinen and, in addition to a cutting function, they also have a piercing and breaking function. Furodon is the oldest known representative of the Teratodontinae.