Protitanops
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Protitanops is an extinct genus of brontotheriid odd-toed ungulate that lived during the Eocene in North America.
| Protitanops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type specimen of Protitanops curryi (LACM/CIT 1854) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Brontotheriidae |
| Tribe: | †Brontotheriini |
| Subtribe: | †Brontotheriina |
| Infratribe: | †Brontotheriita |
| Genus: | †Protitanops Stock, 1936 |
| Species: | †P. curryi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Protitanops curryi Stock, 1936 | |
Distribution
The genus is best known from the Western United States, especially in Death Valley, California, where the best specimens of the type species P. curryi have been found.[1] The species is also known from fossils found in Texas and Chihuahua in the region in and around Big Bend National Park.[2]
Description
Protitanops bore a strong resemblance to brontotheres in the genus Megacerops due to its knob-shaped horns. However, the position of the horns differed in Protitanops, in that they pointed straight up, rather than more forwards like in Megacerops.[1]
