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Dichobuninae
Dichobunidae is an extinct family (biology), family of Basal (phylogenetics), basal Artiodactyla, artiodactyl mammals from the early Eocene to late Oligocene of North America, Europe, and Asia. The Dichobunidae include some of the earliest known artiodactyls, such as ''Diacodexis''. Description They were small animals, averaging about the size of a modern rabbit, and had many primitive features. In life, they would have resembled a long-tailed muntjac or chevrotain. Dichobunids had four or five toes on each foot, with each toe ending in a small hoof. They had complete sets of teeth, unlike most later artiodactyls, with their more specialist dentitions. The shape of the teeth suggests they were Browsing (herbivory) , browsers, feeding on small leaves, perhaps in the forest undergrowth. The shape of their bodies and limbs suggests they would have been fast-running animals, unlike most of their contemporaries. Taxonomy Classification of dichobunids following McKenna and Bell: *ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metriotherium
''Metriotherium'' is an extinct genus of artiodactyls belonging to the basal (phylogenetics), basal family Dichobunidae. It was endemic to western Europe and lived from the Early to Late Oligocene. ''Metriotherium'' and its type species ''M. mirabile'' were first named by the French naturalist Henri Filhol in 1882, although it was originally named "''Mesotherium''" in 1880, a name that had been preoccupied decades prior by a Mesotherium, separate mammal genus in South America. In total, there are four valid species assigned to the genus. In comparison to its likely ancestor ''Dichobune'', ''Metriotherium'' consists mainly of larger-sized species relative to other members of the Dichobuninae and had selenodont (crescent-like ridges) dentition. It is defined as a distinct dichobunine genus on the basis of some very specific dental morphologies, with some species being known only from isolated dental remains. Whereas the earliest-appearing species ''M. minutum'' and the latest ''M. s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
