Brachyprotoma obtusata

Brachyprotoma obtusata is an extinct skunk of Pleistocene North America, the only accepted species of the genus Brachyprotoma, known as the short-faced skunks, with specimens found from Yukon to West Virginia. It is known solely from its jaws and teeth, so its body is inferred from the related hog-nosed skunks as a more robust form. The holotype, USNM 12045, is a damaged lower jaw about 3 centimetres long, and the jaw combines primitive traits, such as large fourth premolars and first molars, with the loss of the front-most premolars, leaving two upper and three lower premolars. The generic name joins Greek brachy, short, with protome, head, for the robust look of the holotype. Its exact place among skunks is disputed: it shares a tooth formula with Promephitis hootoni, while its fourth premolar resembles that of Mephitis. Specimens from the Bonneville Basin of Utah date to about 24,000 to 18,000 years ago, and it is unclear why the species died out with the North American megafauna.