The Prehistoric Park Animal Field Guide Volume 1

by WildExpert24

As a Prehistoric Park employee, you get the privilege to work with the likes of previously extinct animals. However, if you want to survive longer than five minutes, then you need to have knowledge of its inhabitants. From the world of Cartoon's Prehistoric Park, this Guide will give you info on behavior, diet, lifespan, and more. Welcome to the Ultimate Prehistoric Guidebook.

26. Didelphodon

Didelphodon

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Family: Stagodontidae

Genus: Didelphodon

Type Species: Didelphodon vorax

Described by Othniel Charles Marsh, 1889

Species:

-Didelphodon vorax Marsh, 1889 (type species)

-Didelphodon padanicus, Cope, 1892

-Didelphodon coyi, Fox & Naylor, 1986

Current Park Population: (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

Park Diet: Clams, Mussels, Fish, Crabs, Thawed Mice, Thawed Chicks, and Eggs

Natural Diet: Clams, Ammonites, Mussels, Fish, Crustaceans, Baby Dinosaurs, other small prey like mammals, reptiles, amphibians, Eggs from Dinosaurs and Reptiles, and Carrion.

Lifespan: 12 Years.

Habitat: Swamps and Waterways like rivers, streams, creeks, coasts, and estuaries.

Native Ecosystem: Western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Hell Creek Formation, Lance Formation, Frenchman Formation, Scollard Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and possibly Ojo Alamo Formation, and Javelina Formation, Southwestern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada, Montana, Wyoming, and possibly New Mexico and Texas, USA, 73-66 Million Years Ago, Maastrichtian Stage.

Breeding Season: April-July.

Gestation Period: 3-4 Weeks.

Babies born: 1-6 Joeys.

Danger Level: 7 out of 10.

Summary: In the Age of Dinosaurs, hiding in the shadows and under the feet of the iconic dinosaurs, it's best not to forget that other animals lived alongside the Dinosaurs. Mammals despite their small size, species grew to the size of badgers and fed on dinosaurs. They were already filling the niches of modern-day small mammals; one of them fills the role of Otters and Tasmanian Devils is the Didelphodon. One of the largest mammals of the Mesozoic era, Didelphodon was a marsupial relative the size of a badger and would've been a voracious predator that fed on baby dinosaurs and other small vertebrates with its strong jaws and teeth with an estimated bite force more powerful than a hyena's when adjusted for body size. Its body resembles a modern-day otter and for that reason, its believed to have a similar lifestyle and niche as modern otters (as well as the docodont mammal Castorocauda from Mid-Late Jurassic China), hunting fish and other aquatic prey, using its strong jaws and teeth to crush hard-shelled prey.

Description: Although perhaps a little larger than a Virginia opossum, with a skull length of 12.2 centimeters (4.8 in) and a weight of 5.2 kilograms (11 lb), Didelphodon was the largest Cretaceous mammal.

Didelphodon Vorax

Individuals are brown with a white underbelly, pale hands and feet, and a bare gray black-tipped tail.

"A Tasmanian devil was drawn by Lucy alongside an otter for comparison with the small mammal."

Size and Weight: They can measure up to 19 inches (50 centimeters) long and weigh 11 lb.

Discovery: Three species of Didelphodon are known: D. vorax, D. padanicus, and D. coyi. The genus is known from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and the Lance Formation of Wyoming, the Frenchman Formation of Saskatchewan, the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, and the Scollard Formation of Alberta, where it is one of the most abundant mammals. It is found solely in late Maastrichtian deposits.

Classification: Didelphodon is a stagodontid marsupial related to Eodelphis and Pariadens. The genus appears to descend from the Campanian Eodelphis, and in particular, appears to be related to Eodelphis cutleri. Pariadens appears to be more primitive than either Eodelphis or Didelphodon and is probably a sister to their group. Didelphimorphia is an order that was named in 1872 by Gill. Previously, in 1821, Gray named the superfamily Didelphoidea to house the families Alphadontidae, Pediomyidae, Peradectidae, and Stagodontidae, which unites Didelphodon with many other genera.

In 2006, a study found that the stagodontids only contained two taxa, Didelphodon and Eodelphis. The previously-included Pariadens was excluded from the group because its type species, P. kirklandi, lacks any of the clade's characteristics; it was reassigned to Marsupialia incertae sedis. Another species, "P." mckennai lacks marsupial features and is probably a therian. Another historical stagodontid, Boreodon, is a nomen dubium. Finally, the purported stagodontid Delphodon is probably a synonym of Pediomys or Alphadon.

Paleobiology: Although it has been argued based on the shape of referred tarsal bones that Didelphodon and other stagodontids were semi-aquatic due to having flexible feet, these traits may be evidence of increased rigidity in the foot. Nevertheless, a recently-found and as-of-yet undescribed specimen, located just 40 m (130 ft) away from a Triceratops in a riverbed, suggests that Didelphodon may have possessed an otter-like body with a Tasmanian devil-like skull. A study that is being prepared by Kraig Derstler, Greg Wilson, Robert Bakker, Ray Vodden, and Mike Triebold will describe this new specimen, housed in the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center. A study on Mesozoic mammal locomotion demonstrates that Didelphodon groups with semi-aquatic species.

The evolution of Didelphodon and other large stagodontids (as well as large deltatheroideans like Nanocuris) occurs after the local extinction of eutriconodont mammals, suggesting passive or direct ecological replacement. Given that all insectivorous and carnivorous mammal groups suffered heavy losses during the mid-Cretaceous, it seems likely these metatherians simply occupied niches left after the extinction of eutriconodonts.

Social Behavior: They live alone or in small family groups consisting of a breeding pair and their offspring. Females have backward-facing pouches which the joeys are born in which she seals in before going swimming.

Dentition and Diet: The teeth have specialized bladelike cusps and carnassial notches, indicating that the animal was a predator; the jaws are short and massive and bear enormous, bulbous premolar teeth which appear to have been used for crushing. Analyses of a near-complete skull referred to Didelphodon show that it had an unusually high bite force quotient (i.e. bite force relative to body size) among Mesozoic mammals, suggesting a durophagous diet. However, its skull lacks the vaulted forehead of hyenas and other specialized bone-eating durophagous mammals, indicating that its diet was perhaps a mixture of hard foodstuffs (e.g. snails, bones) alongside small vertebrates and carrion; although omnivorous habits were suggested in the past, it appears that it was incapable of processing plant matter, rendering it more likely to be hypercarnivorous or durophagous. Some convergence with the carnassials of other predatory mammal groups has also been noted.

They feed on fish, crustaceans, ammonites, mollusks, and in rare cases other small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, scavenge carcasses, and even prey on the babies and eggs of other dinosaurs.

Interactions with other species: Often ignored by Dinosaurs like Leptoceratops, Thescelosaurus, Trierarchuncus, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, Torosaurus, Ornithomimus, Edmontosaurus, Alamosaurus, and Ankylosaurus, but would protect their young and eggs from these mammals.

Same with predators like Tyrannosaurus (especially juveniles), Acheroraptor, Dakotaraptor, Dromaeosaurus, Pectinodon, and Quetzalcoatlus not only see Didelphoodn as a threat to their eggs and young but as prey.

But all of these Dinosaurs do have to deal with the mammal's aggressive and voracious attitude and painful bites as the mammal would intimidate them by snapping with their jaws and chasing them.

In the waterways and coasts, they face predators like crocodilians such as Brachychampsa and Borealosuchus, sharks such as the wobbegong-like Restesia, americana and hybodont, Lonchidion selachos, and mosasaurs such as Mosasaurus.

Extinction: Although mammals survive the extinction that wiped out dinosaurs like Leptoceratops, Thescelosaurus, Trierarchuncus, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, Torosaurus, Ornithomimus, Edmontosaurus, Alamosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Acheroraptor, due to their small size, adaptability, and generalist, sadly for Didelphodon, this mammal didn't make it through the infamous K-Pg (Cretaceous-Paleogene) Mass Extinction event as metatherians (marsupial relatives) disappear from North America during the event, 66 million years ago.

"This is quite mysterious as we currently don't know why metatherians like the Didelphodons became extinct." -Tish Katsufrakis.

Danger Tip: Despite their small size, they have the voracity of the Tasmanian Devil armed with sharp teeth that can deliver a powerful painful bite, so be careful when handling them.

"They are mean little Bastards!" -Amanda O'Neill

Significant Events: On Day Three of the Team's First Rescue Mission, they were the first mammals encountered and the first ones brought back to Paleo Park. Several of them, possibly a family group, were eating on the shorelines on the rocks and fallen legs, feeding on fish, crabs, clams, bones, and ammonites. There were squabbles between them fighting over their food which involved Biting, scratching, and hissing at each other. A few snapped at Dog, Charlie, and Amanda when they got too close. Double D lured them with fish to the portal and now they reside in the Hell Creek Building

Hell Creek Building: This large building is designed to serve as a recreation of the Cretaceous Hell Creek forests, where all the smaller animals now lived. The Didelphodons live in one of the four other land paddocks near the back entrance of the building, with burrows and underground viewing. Their exhibit replicates the waterways and swamps where these mammals live and visitors can see both glass viewing of their burrows and underwater.

Notable Individual:

Scamp: One of the youngest of the Didelphodons and one of the most mischievous and fearless, this young male often likes to gnaw on the shoes of the staff, especially Charlie and Tino.

Conclusion: Didelphodons represent the side of how mammals evolved and diversified during the age of the Dinosaurs, and remind us of the smallest creatures that matter in the earth's ecosystems both in Prehistoric and Modern Times. Visitors would find this mammal enduring on their next visit to Paleo Park.

The Field Guide might take a long time, like structuring and writing descriptions of the creatures, but also my time in college and spending time with my family. So you can suggest additional information quotes, descriptions, and natural or speculative behaviors for the prehistoric animals that I can edit and you send your suggestions either in reviews or Private Messages.

Examples: Inferring what the toons are doodling on the sketches or snarking quotes.

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