Mesonychid

Mesonychia Temporal range: Lower Palaeocene to Lower Oligocene
Harpagolestes immanis skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Eutheria
Superorder:	Laurasiatheria
Order:	Mesonychia
Families
Hapalodectidae Mesonychidae Triisodontidae

Mesonychids ^[1] were the first mammalian carnivores after the extinction of the dinosaurs.

These "wolves on hooves" are an extinct order of carnivorous mammals, closely related to artiodactyls.^[2]

Mesonychids first appeared in the early Palaeocene with the genus Dissacus. They went in decline at the end of the Eocene, and became extinct in the early Oligocene.

1. ↑ "Middle claws"
2. ↑ even-toed ungulates and cetaceans (dolphins and whales)