Oxyaenidae is a family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of the extinct order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Creodonta

Creodonta

The creodonts are an extinct order of mammals that lived from the Paleocene to the Miocene epochs. They shared a common ancestor with the Carnivora....

; it contains three subfamilies comprising ten genera. The placement of a fourth subfamily, Machaeroidinae, is unsure; it may belong here or in Hyaenodontidae

Hyaenodontidae

Hyaenodontidae is a family of the extinct order Creodonta, which contains several dozen genera.The Hyaenodontids were important mammalian predators that arose during the late Paleocene and persisted well into the Miocene...

.

North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n oxyaenids were the first creodonts to appear during the late Paleocene

Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, the "early recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from about . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era...

, while smaller radiations of oxyaenids in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 occurred during the Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

. They were cat-like beasts which walked on flat feet

Plantigrade

right|151px|thumb|Human skeleton, showing plantigrade habitIn terrestrial animals, plantigrade locomotion means walking with the podials and metatarsals flat on the ground. It is one of three forms of locomotion adopted by mammals...

, in contrast to today's carnivore

Carnivore

A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...

s which (except for bear

Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

s and raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

s) walk or run on their toes

Digitigrade

A digitigrade is an animal that stands or walks on its digits, or toes. Digitigrades include walking birds , cats, dogs, and many other mammals, but not plantigrades or unguligrades...

. Anatomically, characteristic features are a short, broad skull, deep jaws, and teeth designed for crushing rather than shearing, as in the hyaenodonts

Hyaenodontidae

Hyaenodontidae is a family of the extinct order Creodonta, which contains several dozen genera.The Hyaenodontids were important mammalian predators that arose during the late Paleocene and persisted well into the Miocene...

.(Lambert, 163)

Oxyaenids were specialized carnivores feeding on birds, small mammals, eggs and insects, and they were capable of climbing trees, which is suggested by fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 evidence of their paws.

Taxonomy

• ORDER CREODONTA
  Creodonta
  The creodonts are an extinct order of mammals that lived from the Paleocene to the Miocene epochs. They shared a common ancestor with the Carnivora....
  
  creodonts
  • Family Oxyaenidae
    • Subfamily Ambloctoninae
      • Genus Ambloctonus
      • Genus Dipsalodon
      • Genus Dormaalodon
      • Genus Palaeonictis
        Palaeonictis
        Palaeonictis is an extinct hyena-like creodont predator belonging to the family Oxyaenidae, existing from the late Paleocene to the early Eocene times. In life, it would have resembled a large modern wolverine. This oxyaenid had heavy jaws and blunt robust teeth more suited for crushing bones, than...
        
        
    • Subfamily Oxyaeninae
      • Genus Dipsalidictis
      • Genus Malfelis
      • Genus Oxyaena
        Oxyaena
        Oxyaena is an extinct genus of extinct creodont mammal from the latest Paleocene to early Eocene of North America . The species were superficially cat or wolverine-like, with a flexible body long, and short limbs.Oxyaena had a broad, low skull Oxyaena ("Sharp" or "Drawn-out" + hyena) is an...
        
        
      • Genus Patriofelis
        Patriofelis
        Patriofelis was a large, cat-like oxyaenid creodont of middle Eocene, some 45 million years ago in North America. It was around long, not including the tail, making it around the same size as a modern panther. It had short legs with broad feet, suggesting that it may have been a poor runner, but...
        
        
      • Genus Protopsalis
      • Genus Sarkastodon
        Sarkastodon
        Sarkastodon is an extinct genus within the family Oxyaenidae that lived during the upper Eocene, approximately 35 million years ago. It was a large, carnivorous animal that lived in what is today Mongolia...
        
        
    • Subfamily Tytthaeninae
      • Genus Tytthaena
    • ?Subfamily Machaeroidinae
      • Genus Apataelurus
      • Genus Machaeroides
        Machaeroides
        Machaeroides is a genus of sabre-toothed creodont that lived during the Eocene. Its fossils were found in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the earliest known sabre-toothed mammal.-Description:...