Thuliadanta
Extinct genus of ceratomorph
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Thuliadanta is an extinct genus of ceratomorph perissodactyl closely related to modern tapirs that is known from the early Eocene Margaret Formation of Arctic Canada (Nunavut and Northwest Territories).
| Thuliadanta Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Life Restoration | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Helaletidae |
| Genus: | †Thuliadanta Eberle, 2005 |
| Species: | †T. mayri |
| Binomial name | |
| †Thuliadanta mayri Eberle, 2005 | |
Paleogeographic significance
Thuliadenta is known from the highest northern latitudinal region of any extinct tapiroid, indicating a possible North American origin for Tapiroidea. Judging from the use of the mountain tapir as an analogue, Thuliadanta may have been a year-round inhabitant in the mild temperate lowland forests of the Eocene High Arctic.[1]