| Palaeosyops Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Palaeosyops robustus skeleton | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | † Brontotheriidae |
| Genus: | † Palaeosyops |
| Species | |
| |
Palaeosyops (Greek: "old" (paleos), "boar" (kapros), "face" (ops) [1] ) is a genus of small brontothere which lived during the early to middle Eocene. [2]
It was about the size of small cattle, with a weight of 600–800 kg depending on the species. [3]
These animals are commonly found in Wyoming fossil beds primarily as fossilized teeth. From all of the species of this animal, it is concluded that P. major was the largest, reaching the size of a small cow. Its describer, Joseph Leidy, erroneously thought that Palaeosyops consumed both plants and animals after examining the fang-like canines. However, it is now known that all brontotheres were strict herbivores, and that many, if not most genera of hornless brontotheres had fang-like canines, possibly for both defense from predators, and intraspecific competition.
Canidae is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid. The family includes three subfamilies: the Caninae, the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae are known as canines, and include domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other species.
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology of the teeth of an animal.
Smilodon is a genus of felids belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch. The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means "scalpel" or "two-edged knife" combined with "tooth". Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator. The two latter species were probably descended from S. gracilis, which itself probably evolved from Megantereon. The hundreds of specimens obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of Smilodon fossils.
The Viperidae (vipers) are a family of snakes found in most parts of the world, except for Antarctica, Australia, Hawaii, Madagascar, New Zealand, Ireland, and various other isolated islands. They are venomous and have long, hinged fangs that permit deep penetration and injection of their venom. Three subfamilies are currently recognized. They are also known as viperids. The name "viper" is derived from the Latin word vipera, -ae, also meaning viper, possibly from vivus ("living") and parere, referring to the trait viviparity common in vipers like most of the species of Boidae.
A lap dog or lapdog is a dog that is both small enough to be held in the arms or lie comfortably on a person's lap and temperamentally predisposed to doing so. Lapdog is not a specific breed, but a generic term for a type of dog that is small in size and friendly towards humans.
Hyracotherium is an extinct genus of very small perissodactyl ungulates that was found in the London Clay formation. This small, fox-sized animal is considered to be the earliest known member of Equidae before the type species, H. leporinum, was reclassified as a palaeothere, a perissodactyl family basal to both horses and brontotheres. The remaining species are now thought to belong to different genera, such as Eohippus, which had previously been synonymised with Hyracotherium.
Embolotherium is an extinct genus of brontothere that lived in Mongolia during the late Eocene epoch. It is most easily recognized by a large bony protuberance emanating from the anterior (front) of the skull. This resembles a battering ram, hence the name Embolotherium. The animal is known from about 12 skulls, several jaws, and a variety of other skeletal elements from the Ulan Gochu formation of Inner Mongolia as well as the Ergilin Dzo Formation of Outer Mongolia.
Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae. They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until about 10,000 years ago.
The tufted deer is a small species of deer characterized by a prominent tuft of black hair on its forehead and fang-like canines for the males. It is a close relative of the muntjac, living somewhat further north over a wide area of central China and northeastern Myanmar. Suffering from overhunting and habitat loss, this deer is considered near-threatened. It is the only member of the genus Elaphodus.
The babirusas, also called deer-pigs, are a genus, Babyrousa, in the swine family found in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula and Buru. All members of this genus were considered part of a single species until 2002, the babirusa, B. babyrussa, but following that was split into several species. This scientific name is restricted to the Buru babirusa from Buru and Sula, whereas the best-known species, the North Sulawesi babirusa, is named B. celebensis. The remarkable "prehistoric" appearance of these mammals is largely due to the prominent upwards incurving canine tusks of the males, which pierce the flesh in the snout.
Uintatherium is an extinct genus of herbivorous dinoceratan mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch. Two species are currently recognized: U. anceps from the United States during the Early to Middle Eocene and U. insperatus of Middle to Late Eocene China.
Massetognathus is an extinct genus of plant-eating traversodontid cynodonts. They lived during the Triassic Period about 235 million years ago, and are known from the Chañares Formation in Argentina and the Santa Maria Formation in Brazil.
Canine reproduction is the process of sexual reproduction in domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes and other canine species.
Megacerops is an extinct genus of the prehistoric odd-toed ungulate family Brontotheriidae, an extinct group of rhinoceros-like browsers related to horses. It was endemic to North America during the Late Eocene epoch, existing for approximately 4.1 million years.
Rhinotitan is an extinct genus of brontothere from the Eocene of Mongolia, where three species were described from the Shara Murun formation. The genus included medium to large brontotheres which had long skulls with nasal horns. Like other solid-horned brontotheres, Rhinotitan was sexually dimorphic in horn size. In living mammals, this pattern is found in species that live in groups; males have the larger horns, and use them in ritualized combats with other males to decide control of territories that offer breeding access to females. Most horned brontotheres had dish-shaped skulls assumed to be adapted for such combats. However, the skull of Rhinotitan was concave only near the front; the top and back of the skull was rounded in a way similar to hornless brontotheres. The functional significance of this character is unknown.
Brontotheriidae is a family of extinct mammals belonging to the order Perissodactyla, the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. Superficially, they looked rather like rhinos with some developing bony nose horns, and were some of the earliest mammals to have evolved large body sizes. They lived around 56–34 million years ago, until the very close of the Eocene. Brontotheres had a Holarctic distribution, with the exception of Western Europe: they occupied North America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. They were the first fossilized mammals to be discovered west of the Mississippi, and were first discovered in South Dakota.
Gustafsonia is an extinct genus of carnivoran belonging to the family Amphicyonidae. The type species, Gustafsonia cognita, was described in 1986 by Eric Paul Gustafson, who originally interpreted it as a miacid and named it Miacis cognitus. It was subsequently considered to be the only species of the diverse genus Miacis that belonged to the crown-group Carnivora, within the Caniformia, and it was ultimately assigned to the family Amphicyonidae. The type specimen or holotype was discovered in Reeve's bonebed, western Texas, in the Chambers Tuff Formation in 1986. The University of Texas holds this specimen. It is the only confirmed fossil of this species.
Diplacodon is a genus of prehistoric odd-toed ungulates in the family Brontotheriidae. It was the size of a rhinoceros, with the last two upper premolars molar-like.
Systemodon is a genus of early Eocene mammal of Wasatchian age. It was one of many mammals originally considered the earliest horses, long classified in the genus Hyracotherium. These were dog-sized animals that in life would have looked vaguely like a paca, mara, or chevrotain The type species, S. tapirinus, is represented by 24 individuals from a locale called the Castillo pocket in the Huerfano Formation of Colorado. This well-preserved deposit allows researchers to reconstruct aspects of the environment and lifestyle of the species.
Anayatherium is an extinct genus of notoungulate belonging to the family Leontiniidae. It lived during the Late Oligocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.
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| Brontotheriinae |
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