Leptictidium

Leptictidium
 * Leptictidium is pronounced "lep-tik-TID-ee-um"
 * Its Latin name is Leptictidium tobieni and its name means "delicate weasel".
 * It was carnivorous and its diet contained small lizards, small mammals, and invertebrates!!!!
 * The Leptictid was up to 90 cm (including tail)!!!!
 * The best of their fossils come from the Messel Shales in Germany!!
 * Three of these Leptictids were found in Germany, showing the fur outline and its stomach contents!!! Cool!!!
 * The Leptictids had long hind legs, which were probably used when they were moving fast!!
 * It is still a matter of debate whether they hopped on two legs like kangaroos or if they ran bipedally.
 * They had a long. bare tail that acted as a counterbalance, and a long mobil snout they used to find food!!
 * They lived on the forest floor in the great expanses of rain forest.




 * They were fast moving predators!
 * It is said that they lived like the modern elephant shrew found in Africa!
 * The Leptictids lived 50-40 million years ago!!



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 * The Leptictids also ate reptiles, lizards, etc!!!!
 * They had long mobile and sensitive noses and supersonic hearing to help them find prey!!
 * Leptictid species include: L. auderiense, L. nasutum, L. tobieni, L. ginsbugi, and L. siegi, and L. dakotensis!!
 * The Leptictidium spends most of their days in nests, sometimes in the roots of trees!!
 * They were found right across Eurasia!