These strange hopping animals, resembling a cross between a shrew and a large cat, are part of a group that survived the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous. They became extinct themselves once the lush tropical forests started to disappear about 40 million years ago.

PRONUNCIATION: LEP-TIK-TID-EE-UM
LIVED: 50 – 40 million years ago
SIZE: 35 inches long, including the tail
FACT: Carnivorous, consuming small lizards, small mammals and invertebrates
MEANING: Delicate weasel
CLOSEST LIVING RELATIVE: None; died out
RANGE: Europe