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We name a rare, hypercarnivorous and durophagous mustelid  Sonitictis moralesi , new genus and species, in honour of Jorge Morales for his contributions to carnivore palaeontology.  Sonitictis moralesi  is from the middle Miocene Tunggur Formation of Inner Mongolia, China (Tunggurian Land Mammal age).  S. moralesi  has a short and robust jaw that deepens slightly behind the m1 and possesses a shallow groove at its ventral surface. Dentally, it has robust premolars and highly hypercarnivorous m1 that has lost the metaconid and a trenchant talonid. Known by three jaw fragments, knowledge of this new mustelid is still poor and its relationship uncertain. However, based on its possession of a ventral groove, robust premolars and hypercarnivorous first molar, we tentatively place it in the subfamily Mellivorinae, which includes modern  Mellivora capensis  (honey badger) and extinct species of  Eomellivora , plus others. We conducted mandibular force profile analyses on one  S. moralesi  specimen and compared bite force estimates to several specimens of  E. piveteaui, E. wimani  and  M. capensis . The results suggest that  Sonitictis  likely was a more capable predator and consumer of vertebrate prey than the extant  Mellivora , reaching the low end of the bite force estimates for the larger and more robust  Eomellivora .

historical biology

Sonitictis moralesi , gen. et sp. nov, a new hypercarnivorous and durophagous mustelid from middle Miocene Tunggur Formation, Inner Mongolia, China and its functional morphology