Subhyracodon

Subhyracodon is an extinct genus of hornless rhinoceroses. With a length of 2.4 m (8 ft) and a weight estimated of 381.3 kg (in S. mitis), it was a tapir-sized herbivore on the plains of early Oligocene South Dakota 33 million years ago (White River Fauna). It coexisted with other perissodactyls such as horses, brontotheres, and chalicotheres.[5] 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. The genus Caenopus and species originally referred to as Aceratherium were synonymized into Subhyracodon.[6]

Life restoration by Charles R. Knight
Skull

Subhyracodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene to Late Oligocene, 38.0–26.3 Ma
[1]
Subhyracodon occidentalis skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Perissodactyla
Family:
Rhinocerotidae
Genus:
†Subhyracodon

(Brandt, 1878)
Type species
†Rhinoceros occidentalis
Species[2]
  • †S. kewi
  • †S. mitis
  • †S. occidentalis
Synonyms

See also

References
  1. Prothero, 2005, p. 41.
  2. Prothero, 2005, pp. 40-47.
  3. McKenna & Bell, 1997, p. 481.
  4. Prothero, 2005, p. 43.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-05-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. C.C. O'Harra (1920). The White River Badlands. Rapid City, SD: South Dakota School of Mines. p. 181.
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