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''Megacamelus'' is an extinct genus of
terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthp ...
in the
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Camelidae Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicu� ...
, endemic to North America from the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...
through
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58mya, existing for approximately . This was one of the largest genera of
camelid Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...
to roam the Earth together with ''
Megatylopus ''Megatylopus'' (also known as the North American camel) is an extinct genus of large camel, endemic to North America from the Late Miocene to the Pliocene, existing for approximately . Fossil distribution ranged from North Carolina to Californ ...
'', ''
Gigantocamelus ''Titanotylopus'' is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore in the family Camelidae, endemic to North America from the late Hemphillian stage of the Miocene through the Irvingtonian stage of the Pleistocene. It was one of the last survivin ...
'', '' Camelus moreli'', ''
Camelus knoblochi ''Camelus knoblochi'' is an extinct species of camel from the Pleistocene. Remains are known from several localities in the south of Eastern Europe (northern Caucasus, the Sea of Azov, Caspian, Middle and Lower Volga regions), in the east and wes ...
'', ''
Aepycamelus ''Aepycamelus'' is an extinct genus of camelids that lived during the Miocene 20.6–4.9 million years ago, existing for about . Its name is derived from the Homeric Greek , "high and steep" and κάμηλος – "camel"; thus, "high camel"; ' ...
'', and ''
Paracamelus ''Paracamelus'' is an extinct genus of camel in the family Camelidae. It originated in North America during the Middle Miocene but crossed the Beringian land bridge into Eurasia during the Late Miocene, approximately 7.5–6.5  million year ...
''. It reached approximately in height.


Taxonomy

''Megacamelus'' was named by Frick (1929). It was assigned to Camelidae by Frick (1929) and Honey et al. (1998).J. G. Honey, J. A. Harrison, D. R. Prothero and M. S. Stevens. 1998. Camelidae. In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America 1:439-462


Fossil distribution

Fossils have been found from
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...
to
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and W ...
to
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...
.


References

* Prehistoric camelids Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Miocene even-toed ungulates Pliocene even-toed ungulates Pliocene extinctions Neogene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1929 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub