Oxyaenidae

Oxyaenidae ("sharp hyenas") is a family of extinct carnivorous placental mammals. Traditionally classified in order Creodonta, this group is now classified in its own order Oxyaenodonta ("sharp tooth hyenas") within clade Pan-Carnivora in mirorder Ferae. Phylogenetic analysis recovered them as a sister group to Carnivoraformes, a clade that consisted of Carnivora and close relatives. The group contains four subfamilies comprising fourteen genera. Oxyaenids first appeared during the late Paleocene in North America, with smaller radiations of oxyaenids in Eurasia occurring during the Eocene. They would go extinct in the Middle Eocene being replaced by nimravids, which took over the cat-like niche once occupied by oxyaenids.