Leptoreodon
| Leptoreodon Temporal range: Eocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | †Protoceratidae |
| Genus: | †Leptoreodon Wortman (1898) |
Leptoreodon is a small extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to North America from the Eocene epoch (Uintan to Duchesnean stage) 40.2—33.9 Ma, existing for approximately 6.3 million years.[1]
Taxonomy
Leptoreodon was named by Wortman (1898). It was assigned to Hypertragulidae by Peterson (1919); and to Protoceratidae by Wortman (1898), Carroll (1988), Prothero (1998) and Prothero and Ludtke (2007).[2][3][4]
Morphology
Leptoreodon resembled deer. However they were more closely related to camelids. In addition to having horns in the more usual place, protoceratids had additional, rostral horns above the orbital cavity.
Body mass
Four fossil specimens of Prosynthetoceras were measured by M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist for body mass.[5]
- Specimen 1: 12.5 kg (28 lb)
- Specimen 2: 10.3 kg (23 lb)
- Specimen 3: 9.50 kg (21 lb)
- Specimen 3: 10.6 kg (23 lb)
Fossil distribution
Fossils have been recovered from:
- Devil's Graveyard Formation, Brewster County, Texas
- Webb County, Texas[6]
- Swift Current Creek, Cypress Hills Formation, Saskatchewan
References
- ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Leptoreodon, basic info
- ↑ O. A. Peterson. 1919. Annals of Carnegie Museum 12(2)
- ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
- ↑ D. R. Prothero and J. A. Ludtke. 2007. Family Protoceratidae. in D. R. Prothero and S. Foss (eds.), The Evolution of Artiodactyls 169-176
- ↑ M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist. 2006. Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression. Journal of Zoology 270(1):90-101
- ↑ J. W. Westgate. 1988. Biostratigraphic implications of the first Eocene land-mammal fauna from the North American coastal plain. Geology 16:995-998
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