Meniscotherium

Meniscotherium
Temporal range: Eocene
Skeleton.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: ?Perissodactyla
Family: Phenacodontidae
Subfamily: Meniscotheriinae
Genus: Meniscotherium
Cope, 1874
Species
  • M. tapiacitum
  • M. chamense
Restoration of M. chamense

Meniscotherium is an extinct genus of dog-sized mammal which lived 54-38 million years ago. It was a herbivore and had hooves. Fossils have been found in Utah, New Mexico. and Colorado. Many individuals have been found together, indicating that it lived in groups.[1]

Body mass in M. chamense is estimated to be 5–17 kg, making it about the size of a small dog.[2]

A 2014 cladistic analysis places it within stem perissodactyls.[3]

References

  1. Thomas E. Williamson and Spencer G. Lucas. 1992. Meniscotherium (Mammalia, "Condylarthra") from the Paleocene-Eocene of western North America. Bulletin, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Albuquerque. 72 p.
  2. Dirks W. · Anemone R.L., Holroyd P.A., Reid D.J., (2009). "Phylogeny, Life History and the Timing of Molar Crown Formation in Two Archaic Ungulates, Meniscotherium and Phenacodus (Mammalia, 'Condylarthra')". Comparative Dental Morphology. 13: 3–8. doi:10.1159/000242381.
  3. Cooper, L. N.; Seiffert, E. R.; Clementz, M.; Madar, S. I.; Bajpai, S.; Hussain, S. T.; Thewissen, J. G. M. (2014-10-08). "Anthracobunids from the Middle Eocene of India and Pakistan Are Stem Perissodactyls". PLoS ONE. 9 (10): e109232. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0109232. PMC 4189980Freely accessible. PMID 25295875.
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