Subhyracodon | |
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Subhyracodon occidentalis skeleton | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
Genus: | †
Subhyracodon Brandt, 1878 |
Type species | |
Subhyracodon occidentalis | |
Species [2] | |
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Synonyms | |
Subhyracodon (Latin: "below the genus Hyracodon") [5]) is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotids. With a length of 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) and an estimated weight of 381 kg (840 lb) in S. mitis,[ citation needed] it was a tapir-sized herbivore on the plains of early Oligocene South Dakota 33 million years ago. It coexisted with other perissodactyls such as horses, brontotheres, and chalicotheres. [6] Subhyracodon had no horns, relying more on its speed to escape from predators, but a species found at Wind Cave National Park had a pair of bony nasal ridges.[ citation needed] The genus Caenopus and species originally referred to as Aceratherium were synonymized into Subhyracodon. [7] It has been suggested to be one of the oldest known members of the subfamily Elasmotheriinae by some studies, [8] though other studies place it firmly outside the Rhinocerotinae-Elasmotheriinae split. [9]