Anchitherium
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anchitherium (meaning near beast) is a genus of extinct equid with a three-toed hoof.
_Anchitherium_aurelianense_-_Mandibule_complète_(Cuvier,_1825).jpg)
| Anchitherium Temporal range: [1] | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Anchitherium aurelianense, Hypohippus equinus, Merychippus sejunctus, and M. sphenodus fossils in Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Subfamily: | †Anchitheriinae |
| Genus: | †Anchitherium von Meyer, 1844 |
| Type species | |
| Anchitherium aurelianense | |
| Species[1][2][3][4] | |
| |
Anchitherium was a browsing (leaf eating) horse that originated in the early Miocene of North America, being found as far south as Panama,[5] and subsequently dispersed to Europe and Asia,[3][4] where it gave rise to the larger bodied genus Sinohippus.[1] It was around 60 centimetres (6.0 hands) high at the shoulder, and probably represented a side-branch of horse evolution that left no modern descendants.[6]
