Guild structure of the carnivorous mammals (Creodonta, Carnivora) from the Taatsiin Gol area, Lower Oligocene of Central Mongolia

For the first time, comparative information is given for the paleobiological pattern of the carnivorous mammals from the Oligocene of the Taatsiin Gol area, Mongolia. Creodonts and carnivorans have been described several times from Central and Outer Mongolia since 1924. The fauna of Taatsiin Gol consists of a large and rather unique variety of carnivorous mammals. The faunal list contains four taxa of creodonts. All of them belong to the genus Hyaenodon. The carnivorans are more diverse. The Feliformia and Caniformia consist of five taxa. The nimravids are represented by Nimravus mongoliensis. The smallest member of this carnivorous guild is the enigmatic Palaeogale sectoria. Estimations of body masses, diet classes and locomotor patterns are given. Only three of four diet classes are present. There is no evidence of a non-vertebrate/meat group as there is probably no representative of the 10-30 kg class. Four different locomotor patterns are identified, while arboreal and semiaquatical taxa are lacking. The Oligocene carnivorous guild of Taatsiin Gol shows similarities to the Recent guild of carnivorans from the Serengeti.