Palaeosyops
Extinct genus of mammals
| Palaeosyops Temporal range: Early Eocene–Middle Eocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N | |
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| Palaeosyops robustus skeleton | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Brontotheriidae |
| Genus: | †Palaeosyops |
| Species | |
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Palaeosyops (Greek: "old" (paleos), "boar" (kapros), "face" (ops)[1]) is a genus of small brontothere which lived during the early to middle Eocene.[2]
Biology and size
It was about the size of small cattle, with a weight of 600–800 kg depending on the species.[3]
These animals are commonly found in Wyoming fossil beds primarily as fossilized teeth. P. major was the largest species, reaching the size of a small cow. Its describer, Joseph Leidy, erroneously thought that Palaeosyops consumed both plants and animals after examining the fang-like canines. However, it is now known that all brontotheres were strict herbivores, and that many, if not most genera of hornless brontotheres had fang-like canines, possibly for both defense from predators, and intraspecific competition.
References
External links
- Academy of Natural Sciences
Paleontology portal
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Clade: Synapsida
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Perissodactyla
- Suborder: Hippomorpha
- Eotitanops
- Lambdotherium
- Pakotitanops
- Palaeosyops
- Mulkrajanops
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| Brontotheriini |
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