''Protylopus'' is an extinct genus of

camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

that lived during middle to late

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

some 50-40 million years ago in

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 ...

. Along with being the oldest camel known, it was also the smallest, reaching a length of , and probably weighing around . Based on its teeth, it probably fed on the soft leaves of forest plants. ''Protylopuss front legs were shorter than the hind legs, and ended in four-toed feet. The hind legs also ended in four toes, but most of the weight was carried by the third and fourth, so it may have raised itself up on its back legs like the modern day gerenuk antelope to feed. The shape of the toes suggests that the animal possessed hooves, rather than the foot-pads of modern

References

Prehistoric tylopods Eocene Artiodactyla Eocene mammals of North America Transitional fossils Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera Fossil taxa described in 1898 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub