| Dinosorex | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | †Heterosoricidae |
| Genus: | †Dinosorex Engesser, 1972 |
Dinosorex is an extinct eulipotyphlan genus, popularly referred to as giant terror shrews due to their fearsome lower incisors. Dinosorex lived in Europe from the late Oligocene or early Miocene to the late Miocene, with a range that stretched from Ukraine to Iberia. It was about the size of a modern hedgehog, but its enlarged and strengthened incisors (which have been found to contain iron particles within the enamel) may have allowed it to adopt a partially carnivorous diet, as opposed to the strictly insectivorous diet of most modern mammals of that size.
Taxonomy
The genus was described in 1972 by B. Engesser. It comprises the following species:
- D. anatolicus
- D. engesseri
- D. huerzeleri
- D. pachygnathus
- D. sansaniensis
- D. zapfei
References
- ^ Hogenboom, Melissa (27 April 2015). "Mystery of the Giant Terror Shrew". BBC Earth. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- Furió, M.; et al. (2015). Three million years of "Terror-Shrew" (Dinosorex, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) in the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Barcelona, Spain).
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Engesser, B. (1972). "Die obermiozäne Säugetierfauna von Anwil (Baselland); (The Upper Miocene mammalian fauna of Anwil, Baselland)". Tätigkeitsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Baselland. 28: 35–364.
- "†Dinosorex Engesser 1972 (placental)". Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
| Taxon identifiers | |
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| Dinosorex | |
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