The diet of Leptarctus revealed

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The diet of the Miocene weasel relative Leptarctus primus has long been a mystery due to the unique shape of its skull. The skull of this genus is particularly robust and has two parallel ridges on the top of its skull, in contrast to the single ridge or smooth skull top of other carnivorans. However, a new study used bite simulations and other biometrics to compare the skull of Leptarctus with that of eighteen modern carnivores with known diets and other fossil species. The study determined that the mechanics of the genus' skull is most similar to that of a modern American badger, suggesting that Leptarctus was a carnivore and an active predator, but could have also been an omnivore when needed. This study helps to reveal not only the true diet of Leptarctus but also that biometric data can be extremely useful in determining the diets of extinct animals.



Paper (open access!): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2018.1531290