Palaeosyops

Palaeosyops
Temporal range: Early Eocene–Middle Eocene
Palaeosyops robustus skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: †Brontotheriidae
Genus: †Palaeosyops
Species
  • P. paludosus Leidy, 1870 (type)
  • P. robustus (Marsh, 1872)

Palaeosyops (Greek: "old" (paleos), "boar" (kapros), "face" (ops)[1]) is a genus of small brontothere which lived during the early to middle Eocene.[2]

Biology and size

P. robustus skull collected from Bridger Basin, Wyoming. With model by Erwin S. Christman. At the AMNH.

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. P. major was the largest species, 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.

AMNH P. robustus skull front view.

References

  1. ^ "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Fossilworks: Palaeosyops".
  3. ^ "Paleobiology Database: Palaeosyops robustus". Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2012-06-03.


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