Hyaenodonta, Van Valen, 1967

Morlo, Michael, Friscia, Anthony, Miller, Ellen R., Locke, Ellis & Nengo, Isaiah, 2021, Systematics and paleobiology of Carnivora and Hyaenodonta from the lower Miocene of Buluk, Kenya, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 66 (2), pp. 465-484 : 478-479

Hyaenodonta or/and Carnivora indet.

Tables 2, 5, SOM: figs. S1, S2.

Material.—All from Buluk, east of Lake Turkana, Kenya; lower section of the Buluk Member, Bakate Formation, uppermost lower Miocene. Teeth ( SOM: fig. S1): KNM­WS 12623, isolated incisor; KNM­WS 12630, tooth fragments; KNM­WS 12631, broken tooth cusp; KNM­WS 12664, incisor fragment; KNM­WS 65236, isolated incisor; KNM­WS 65465, right p3?; KNM­WS 65591, isolated left P2, possibly of a hyaenodont; KNM­WS 65726, nasal and maxillary fragment with possible left I 3 in the size range of H. sulzeri or C. jitu sp. nov.; KNM­WS 101012, isolated premolar.

Postcranial material ( SOM: fig. S2): KNM­WS 31036 is a right astragalus fragment comparable in size with Crocuta . The articulation for the tibia is very narrow, much more so than that documented for species in Amphicyon and Panthera . The articulation is not deeply inflated like in Amphicyon , but resembles Panthera in this respect in being less inflated. KNM­WS 65395, phalanx; KNM­WS 65472, fragment of distal metapodial; KNM­WS 65597, scapholunare of Cynelos or Hyainailouros ; KNM­WS 65731, fragment of distal metapodial; KNM­WS 65733, fragment of left proximal ulna. The latter presumably represents a carnivoran, as the anterior crest of olecranon runs straight proximally. KNM­WS 101029 is also a left proximal ulna fragment. This specimen is slightly larger than KNM­WS 65733, but is otherwise very similar in morphology. KNM­WS 65766, fragment of a large right calcaneum; KNM­WS 65797, large sacrum and last lumbar vertebra; KNM­WS 101031, large right scapholunare, unlike Hyainailouros .

Remarks.—Several specimens from Buluk represent members of Hyaenodonta or Carnivora , but the remains are too fragmentary to be attributed to a specific taxon. None of these specimens indicate the presence of an additional taxon at Buluk.