Dinosorex Explained

Dinosorex is an extinct eulipotyphlan genus, popularly referred to as giant terror shrews^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] It comprises the following species:^[4]

• D. anatolicus
• D. engesseri
• D. huerzeleri
• D. pachygnathus
• D. sansaniensis
• D. zapfei

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mystery of the Giant Terror Shrew . Hogenboom, Melissa . 27 April 2015 . 30 April 2015 . BBC Earth.
2. Book: Furió, M.. et al. Three million years of "Terror-Shrew" (Dinosorex, Eulipotyphla, Mammalia) in the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Barcelona, Spain). Comptes Rendus Palevol. 2015.
3. 1972. Engesser, B.. Die obermiozäne Säugetierfauna von Anwil (Baselland); (The Upper Miocene mammalian fauna of Anwil, Baselland). Tätigkeitsberichte der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Baselland. 28. 35–364.
4. Web site: †Dinosorex Engesser 1972 (placental) . Fossilworks. 17 December 2021.