Some authors have proposed that the genus Xenorhinotherium a synonym of Macrauchenia, though this has not been widely accepted.[2][3] The name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiense refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where the first fossils were found.[4]
X. bahiense was a megafaunalherbivore that probably looked very much like Macrauchenia, weighing about 940kg (2,070lb).[7] In life, X. bahiense would have vaguely resembled a tall, humpless camel with three toes on each foot and either a saiga-like proboscis[8] or a moose-like nose.[9]Pictographs from the Serranía de La Lindosarock formation of Guaviare, Colombia, show what might possibly be Xenorhinotherium with three toes and a trunk, though the claims are highly controversial, and it is uncertain whether they even date to the last Ice Age.[10][11]
Paired δ13C and δ18O measurements from fossils in the Brazilian Intertropical Region indicate that X. bahiense was primarily a browser.[12] These findings are supported by its hypsodonty index.[13] However, results derived from the dental microwear of X. bahiense contradict these findings and instead recover the species as a grazer because of the high number of scratches on its tooth enamel that typically indicate a highly abrasive, grass-based diet. Additionally, X. bahiense inhabited semi-arid tropical environments, in contrast to its close relative Macrauchenia patachonica, which inhabited subtropical to temperate environments that were more arid than those which X. bahiense lived in.[2]
Though not known from other countries, computer modelling suggests that the habitat in the western Andean slopes of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru would have been suitable for this animal, particularly in areas that have not been extensively excavated yet.[2]
A 2025 study suggested that Xenorhinotherium survivied until the Holocene around 3,493–4,217 years cal.Before Present (BP), based on a radiocarbon dated specimen found in Brazil.[17]
↑ Cartelle, C.; Lessa, G. (1988). "Descrição de um novo gênero e espécie de Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) do Pleistoceno do Brasil" [Description of a new genus and species of Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) from the Pleistocene of Brazil]. Paulacoutiana (in Portuguese). 3: 3–26.
↑ Morcote-Ríos, Gaspar; Aceituno, Francisco Javier; Iriarte, José; Robinson, Mark; Chaparro-Cárdenas, Jeison L. (29 April 2020). "Colonisation and early peopling of the Colombian Amazon during the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene: New evidence from La Serranía La Lindosa". Quaternary International. 578: 5–19. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.04.026. S2CID219014558.
Socorro, Orangel Antonio Aguilera (2006). Tesoros paleontológicos de Venezuela: el cuaternario del Estado Falcón[Paleontological treasures of Venezuela: the quaternary of the Falcón State] (in Spanish). Ministerio de la Cultura. ISBN978-980-12-1379-6.
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