Kingdom Animalia Family †Mesonychidae Rank Genus | Class Mammalia Phylum Chordata Order Mesonychid | |
Similar Mesonychid, Pachyaena, Mesonychidae, Ankalagon saurognathus, Hapalodectes | ||
Dissacus is a genus of extinct carnivorous jackal to coyote-sized mammals within the family Mesonychidae whose fossils are found in Paleocene to Early Eocene aged strata in France, Asia and southwest North America, 66—50.3 mya, existing for approximately 15.7 million years.
The bear-sized Ankalagon is closely related to Dissacus, being regarded as a sister or daughter genus.
Dissacus had a Holarctic distribution but Dissacus europaeus is the only mesonychid currently known from European strata. The fossil record of this species is fragmentary; remains in Cernay, France, include a mandible, a complete radius, and fragments of a humerus. A morphological study of these bones suggests this animal was digitigrade and more cursorial than is usually assumed for the genus.