Altitypotherium
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| Altitypotherium Temporal range: Early Miocene ~ | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Notoungulata |
| Family: | †Mesotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Mesotheriinae |
| Genus: | †Altitypotherium Croft, Flynn & Wyss, 2004 |
| Type species | |
| †Altitypotherium chucalensis Croft, Flynn & Wyss, 2004 | |
| Species | |
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Altitypotherium is an extinct genus of Notoungulate, belonging to the suborder Typotheria. It lived during the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were discovered in South America.
This animal was vaguely similar to a wombat, and its dimensions evocate those of a raccoon; its skull was approximately 16 centimeters long, while its total length, excluding the tail, was about 80 centimeters. It weighed around 10 kilograms.
Altitypotherium had a tall and narrow snout, with only six pairs of teeth in the maxilla and mandible, a low number when compared to most other notoungulates. It had gliriform upper incisors, with a band of anterior enamel, and lower incisors protruding forward and separated from premolars and molars by a long diastema. It had high-crowned (hypsodont) teeth, and the occlusal surfaces of the molars had two enamel folds halfway through the tooth in the inner surface and outlining three dentin-filled lobes, forming an E-shaped form. The largest species, Altitypotherium paucidens was distinguished from its closest relatives by the loss of the upper third molar.
