What is a Mesonychids?
Mesonychids are medium-to-large-sized carnivorous mammals closely related to even-toed ungulates (pigs, camels, goats, cattle) and cetaceans (whales and dolphins) that lived in the Paleogene, evolving soon after the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and going extinct around 30 million years ago. Mesonychids had a superficial resemblance to wolves, though they had hooves instead of paws, and much larger heads. They were also larger in general, with some species exceeding the size of bears. In North America, mesonychids were the largest carnivores for millions of years. Mesonychids were typically larger than there other two groups of carnivores that they shared the planet with at the time: the miacids (which evolved into modern carnivorans) and creodonts, another carnivorous group which mesonychids were once classified as. Mesonychids originated in Asia (which was an island continent) and quickly spread across much of the northern hemisphere, including Europe (which was an
