''Paracolodon'' is an extinct genus of tapiroid

perissodactyl Perissodactyla (, ), or odd-toed ungulates, is an order of Ungulate, ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three Family (biology), families: Equidae (wild horse, horses, Asinus, asses, and zebras), Rhinocerotidae ( ...

belonging to the family Helaletidae. Fossils have been found in Mongolia and the

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

region of China.

Taxonomy

Matthew and Granger (1925) described the nominal tapiroid taxa ''Colodon inceptus'' and ''Paracolodon curtus'' from Eocene-age deposits in East Asia. Radinsky (1965) recognized two nominal species as identical and synonymized ''Paracolodon'' with ''Colodon inceptus''. Dashzeveg and Hooker (1997) assigned the nominal tapiroid species ''"Helalestes" fissus'' to ''Colodon'', as ''C. fissus'', based on similarities with ''inceptus''. On the basis of new material from the Erlian Basin in Inner Mongolia, Bai et al. (2017) recognized ''Paracolodon'' as a distinct genus from ''Colodon'', meaning that ''P. fissus'' is a referred species of ''Paracolodon''.Bai B, Wang Y Q, Mao F Y et al., 2017. New material of Eocene Helaletidae (Perissodactyla, Tapiroidea) from the Irdin Manha Formation of the Erlian Basin, Inner Mongolia, China and comments on related localities of the Huheboerhe Area. Am Mus Novit, 3878: 1–44.

References

Helaletidae Prehistoric tapirs Eocene Perissodactyla Eocene mammals of Asia Fossil taxa described in 1925 {{paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub