Taeniodonta

Taeniodonta ("banded teeth") is an extinct order of eutherian mammals, that lived in North America and Europe from the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to the middle Eocene. They were among the first mammals to evolve large body sizes (comparable to a modern wild boar or American black bear), as well as ever-growing teeth for eating tough plants. At least nine genera of taeniodonts are classified into two families. Conorycitids are a paraphyletic family of small-to-medium-sized animals (5-15kg) with generalized forms. Their cheek teeth developed hypsodont crowns, which show they were plant-eaters. Their fossils disappear before the Eocene. Stylinodonts are a true (monophyletic) family of medium-to-large (10-110kg) animals that quickly evolved larger bodies, with huge compressed, recurved claws on the middle toes of the forefoot, and adaptations in the forelimb for digging. Later genera, like Stylinodon, had ever-growing teeth. Like many early mammals, taeniodonts had generalized, heavy bodies and tails and walked on the soles of their feet. However, the heads of stylodonts are unique.