''Leptoreodon'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of small

Artiodactyla The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poste ...

, of the family

Protoceratidae Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene at around 46.2—4.9 Mya, existing for about 41 million years. Classification Protoceratidae wa ...

, endemic to North America. It lived during the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

40.4—37.2 Ma, existing for approximately . ''Leptoreodon'' resembled

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...

, but were more closely related to

camelids 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, ...

Fossil distribution

Fossils have been recovered from: *

Devil's Graveyard Formation The Devil's Graveyard Formation is a geologic formation in Texas. It preserves fossils dating back to the Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geo ...

Brewster County, Texas Brewster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in West Texas and its county seat (and only city) is Alpine. It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region, and borders Mexico. Brewster County is th ...

Webb County, Texas Webb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 267,114. Its county seat is Laredo. The county was named after James Webb (1792–1856), who served as secretary of the treasury, secretar ...

J. W. Westgate. 1988. Biostratigraphic implications of the first Eocene land-mammal fauna from the North American coastal plain. Geology 16:995-998 *Swift Current Creek, Cypress Hills Formation,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...

References

Priabonian genus extinctions Eocene even-toed ungulates Eocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1898 Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub