Agriochoerus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Agriochoerus | |
|---|---|
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| A. antiquus skeleton at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | †Agriochoeridae |
| Genus: | †Agriochoerus Leidy, 1850 |
| Species | |
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Agriochoerus is an extinct genus of scansorial herbivore of the tylopod family Agriochoeridae, endemic to North America.[1] Agriochoerus and other agriochoerids possessed claws, which is rare within Artiodactyla, as well as likely being scansorial.[2][3] Agriochoerus was first described in 1869.[4]
Agriochoerus lived during the late Eocene and the Oligocene.[5] It was medium-sized, the estimated body mass for A. antiquus being about 85 kilograms (187 lb).[6]
Agriochoerus was about the size of a sheep, weighing around 85 kilograms.[4] Like other agriochoerids, it possessed a body shape unusual for an artiodactyl. The body was rather elongated and supported by more elongated and slender limbs than those of others within the Merycoidodontoidea. The front legs were five-toed, with an atrophied thumb, while the hind legs had only four toes. The tail was long and heavy. Another unusual characteristic for the artiodactyls was the presence of true claws, as confirmed by the shape of the phalanges. The skull was long and thin, but the muzzle was rather short. There were two robust upper canines; these teeth were separated from the premolars by a long diastema; the incisors were very small. The last lower premolar had become identical to a true molar, while the upper one was nearly molar. This phenomenon is rare in artiodactyls, but is found in Dichodon, where the fourth premolar is more complex than the molars. The elongated trunk was equipped with lumbar vertebrae similar to those of cats; the legs also resembled those of the felids. The distal end of the humerus, with its lower trochlea and the capitellum similar to that of Anoplotheriidae, indicates freedom of movement similar to that present within the Cainotheriidae.[4]
