''Thoatherium'' (meaning "active swift-beast") is an extinct genus of litoptern mammals from the Early Miocene of Argentina. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Santa Cruz Formation in Argentina.''Thoatherium''
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Description

With a length of , the gazelle-like ''Thoatherium'' was a small representative of the order

Litopterna Litopterna (from grc, λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinct order of fossil hoofed mammals from the Cenozoic era. The order is one of the five great orders of South American ungulates that were endemic to the continent, until the G ...

. Judging from its long legs, it was a fast runner. ''Thoatherium'' had remarkably reduced toes; only one horse-like hoof remained. ''Thoatherium'' even lacked splint bones, which are remnants of the second and fourth toe found in modern horses. Judging from its generalised, brachydont teeth, ''Thoatherium'' fed on soft leaves rather than on tough grasses.Darin A. Croft, ''Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys: The Fascinating Fossil Mammals of South America'', Indiana University Press, 29/08/2016

References

Proterotheriids Burdigalian life Miocene mammals of South America Santacrucian Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1887 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino Prehistoric placental genera {{paleo-mammal-stub