Perchoerus

Perchoerus Temporal range: Late Eocene - Early Oligocene 37–30  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossils in Berlin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Tayassuidae
Genus:	† Perchoerus Leidy, 1869
Species
P. minor P. nanus P. probus
Synonyms [1]
Bothrolabis Chaenohyus

Perchoerus is an extinct genus of suine from the Eocene and Oligocene of North America. Three species are known. ^{[1] [2]} While often considered to be a peccary, other studies have recovered it to be a basal suine outside of either peccaries or Suidae. ^[3]

Description.

The oldest known species of Perchoerus is P. minor, which was only the size of a house cat. It is known from skull and tooth material. The later P. nanus of the Orellan grew larger and is known from a skull and lower jaw. The latest and largest species was P. probus of the Oligocene (32-30 mya). It was much larger (about as big as living peccaries) and known from more remains than the other species. ^{[1] [4]} The molars of Perchoerus are quadrituberculate and lack any of the accessory cuspules present in modern peccaries. The feet bore 4 functional digits and had free metacarpals. The bones in the forearm were separate. ^[5]

Jawbone of P. minor

Palaeoecology

Low δ¹³C values from the teeth of P. probus suggest that it was an inhabitant of dense riparian habitats. ^[6]

References

1. Prothero, Donald R. (2021). THE SYSTEMATICS OF NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES (MAMMALIA: ARTIODACTYLA: TAYASSUIDAE) By · 2021. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 6–8.
2. Prothero, Donald R. (2009). "THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES". Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin. 65: 509–542.
3. Parisi Dutra, Rodrigo; Casali, Daniel de Melo; Missagia, Rafaela Velloso; Gasparini, Germán Mariano; Perini, Fernando Araujo; Cozzuol, Mario Alberto (2016-09-13). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (3): 345–358. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8. hdl: 11336/54840 . ISSN   1064-7554.
4. Prothero, Donald R.; Williams, Mary Persis (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN   9781400884452.
5. Scott, William Berryman; Scott, William Berryman (1913). A history of land mammals in the Western Hemisphere; illustrated with 32 plates and more than 100 drawings. New York: Macmillan.
6. Boardman, Grant S.; Secord, Ross (1 April 2013). "Stable isotope paleoecology of White River ungulates during the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition in northwestern Nebraska" . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 375: 38–49. Bibcode:2013PPP...375...38B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.02.010 . Retrieved 17 November 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.