''Titanotylopus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of camel (tribe Camelini), endemic to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

from the late Hemphillian stage of the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

through the Irvingtonian stage of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. It was one of the last surviving North American camels; after its extinction, only ''

Camelops ''Camelops'' is an extinct genus of camel that lived in North and Central America from the middle Pliocene (from around 4-3.2 million years ago) to the end of the Pleistocene (around 13-12,000 years ago). It is more closely related to living cam ...

'' remained. Its name is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

words Τιτάν, τύλος and πούς — "

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

", "knob" and "foot"; thus, "giant knobby-foot".

Paleobiology

''Titanotylopus'' is distinguished from other early large camelids by its large upper canines amongst other distinguishing dental characteristics, and absence of lacrimal vacuities in the skull. Unlike the smaller, contemporaneous ''

'', ''Titanotylopus'' had relatively broad second

phalanges The phalanges (: phalanx ) are digit (anatomy), digital bones in the hands and foot, feet of most vertebrates. In primates, the Thumb, thumbs and Hallux, big toes have two phalanges while the other Digit (anatomy), digits have three phalanges. ...

, suggesting that it had true padded "cameltoes", like modern camels.Björn Kurtén and Elaine Anderson ''Pleistoceone Mammals of North America'' (New York : Columbia University Press, 1980), pp. 301–302 The species ''Titanotylopus spatulus'' was characterized by broad, spatula-like

incisor Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

s. It has been found at Grand View, Red Light fauna of the Love Formation,

Hudspeth County, Texas Hudspeth County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 3,432. Its county seat is Sierra Blanca, Texas, Sierra Blanca, and the largest communit ...

, Donnelly Ranch, White Rock, Kansas, Mullen II (

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

), Sandahl Local Fauna (

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

), Vallecito Creek,

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and 111 Ranch, Arizona in North America.

Appearance

''Titanotylopus'' possessed long and massive limbs, a comparatively small braincase, and a convex slope between the eyes. It reached a shoulder height of and a weight of . Like modern camels, it possessed a hump for fat storage; evidence for this is provided by the long neural spines on its

thoracic The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main ...

vertebra Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...

Alternate classification

While some authors have considered ''Gigantocamelus'' and ''Titanotylopus'' to be congeneric, others have maintained them separately. Voorhies and Corner, based on previously unreported material, documented that the two are indeed worthy of separate generic status. Harrison (1985) followed Voorhies and Corner in advocating the use of ''Titanotylopus'' for only ''T. nebraskensis'', based on a lower

jaw The jaws are a pair of opposable articulated structures at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term ''jaws'' is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth ...

, and ''Gigantocamelus'' for ''G. spatulus'', which includes ''G. fricki''. There is a clear difference between the proximal phalanx of specimens assigned to ''Gigantocamelus'' and to ''Titanotylopus'', based on

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

s associated with

skull The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...

material.

Paleobiology

Appearance

Alternate classification

See also

References

Further reading