Heteroprox

Last updated

Heteroprox
Temporal range: 15.97–11.61  Ma
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Miocene
Heteroprox larteti 434.jpg
Skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Cervidae
Genus: Heteroprox
Schaub, 1928
Type species
Heteroprox larteti
Filhol, 1891 (as Cervus larteti)
Species
  • H. anatoliensis
  • H. eggeri
  • H. larteti
  • H. moralesi

Heteroprox is an extinct genus of deer from the Miocene of Europe.

Contents

Description

Heteroprox was a mid-sized deer that would have been similar in appearance to a muntjac. It would have stood about 1 m (3.3 ft) tall and weighed around 35 kg (77 lb). [1]

It had fairly long legs, and two-pronged antlers. Based on its leg proportions, it was probably semi-aquatic and lived in humid, swampy environments. [1]

Palaeoecology

Dental microwear and mesowear indicates that H. larteti consumed significant quantities of abrasive grasses. [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. p. 141. ISBN   9780231116411.
  2. DeMiguel, Daniel; Azanza, Beatriz; Morales, Jorge (15 March 2011). "Paleoenvironments and paleoclimate of the Middle Miocene of central Spain: A reconstruction from dental wear of ruminants" . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 302 (3–4): 452–463. Bibcode:2011PPP...302..452D. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.02.005 . Retrieved 1 January 2025 via Elsevier Science Direct.