Xenorhinotherium

Xenorhinotherium
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene (Ensenadan-Lujanian)
~0.126–0.011 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Litopterna
Family: Macraucheniidae
Genus: Xenorhinotherium
Cartelle & Lessa 1988
Species: X. bahiensis (type)

Xenorhinotherium is an extinct genus of macraucheniids, closely related to Macrauchenia of Patagonia. The type species is X. bahiensis.[1]

Taxonomy

Some authors place X. bahiensis in the genus Macrauchenia, while still others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. The genus name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiensis refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where its fossils are found.[2]

Characteristics

Like other macraucheniids, X. bahiensis had a small proboscis, or trunk, and three toes on each foot. This animal was an herbivore that averaged around five meters in length, and was approximately three meters in height. In life, X. bahiensis probably looked very much like a larger version of Macrauchenia, that is, vaguely like a very tall, humpless camel with a small, tapir-like trunk.

Distribution

Fossils of Xenorhinotherium, dating to the Late Pleistocene, have been found in the states of Bahia, the Jandaíra Formation of Rio Grande do Norte,[1] and Minas Gerais in modern Brazil,[3] and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima-Taima and Cuenca del Lago.[4][5]

References

  1. 1 2 Xenorhinotherium at Fossilworks.org
  2. ↑ Cartelle, C. & Lessa, G. 1988. Descrição de um novo gênero e espécie de Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) do Pleistoceno do Brasil. Paulacoutiana 3:3-26.
  3. ↑ Carolina Saldanha Scherer, Vanessa Gregis Pitana & Ana Maria Ribeiro. Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Rev. bras. paleontol. 12(3):231-246, Setembro/Dezembro 2009, doi:10.4072/rbp.2009.3.06
  4. ↑ Socorro, 2006
  5. ↑ Morón, 2015, p.110

Bibliography

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