Titanotylopus

Taxobox
fossil_range = late Miocene to early Pleistocene
name = "Titanotylopus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Artiodactyla
familia = Camelidae
tribus = Camelini
genus = †"Titanotylopus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = †"Titanolypus nebraskensis"
†"Titanotylopus spatulus"
(was "Gigantocamelus fricki")

"Titanotylopus" (formerly "Gigantocamelus") is an extinct genus of camelid which lived during the Hemphilian to Irvingtonian eras (late Miocene- early Pleistocene) in prehistoric North America. Its name is derived from the Greek words Τιτάν, τύλος and πούς — "Titan", "knob" and "foot"; thus, "giant knobby-foot."

Paleobiology

"Titanotylopus" possessed long and massive limbs, a comparatively small braincase and a convex interorbital region. Its average height was 3.5 meters. Like modern camels, it possessed a hump; evidence for this is provided by the long neural spines on its thoracic vertebrae ref|autonumber.

"Titanotylopus" is distinguished from other early large camelids by its large upper canines and other distinguishing dental characteristics, and absence of lacrimal vacuities in the skull. Unlike the smaller, contemporaneous camelops, "Titanotylopus" had relatively broad second phalanges, suggesting that it had true padded "cameltoes," like modern camels.ref|autonumber.

The species "Titanotylopus spatulus" was characterized by broad, spatula-like incisors. It has been found at Grand View, Red Light, Hudspeth County, Texas, Donnelly Ranch, White Rock, Mullen II (Kansas), Sandahl Local Fauna (Nebraska) and Vallecito Creek, Colorado, 111 Ranch, Arizona in North America.

It is said by some that the Titanotylopus really was a Giant Camel. There really are a lot of similarities between the two, but they are a different species all together. They have many differences as well. ref|autonumber

Appearance

This camel had a hump on its back just like todays camels. The hump was used to store fat, and not food or water like some people think. Some suggest the hump sags down if they have plenty food and water over a long period of time. Nobody knows for sure because they are not the same as a true modern day camel. They ate grasses and soft plants as well as spined plants like cactuses. Their "Split Lip" helped grab leaves and other foods they ate. They are thought to be tan in colour.

An alternate view

While some authors have considered "Gigantocamelus" and "Titanotylopus" to be congeneric, others have maintained them separately. Voorhies and Corner, based on previously unreported material, documented that the two are indeed worthy of separate generic status. Harrison (1985) followed Voorhies and Corner in advocating the use of "Titantoylopus" for only "T. nebraskensis", based on a lower jaw, and "Gigantocamelus" for "G. spatula", which includes "G. fricki". There is a clear difference between the proximal phalanx of specimens assigned to "Gigantocamelus" and to "Titanotylopus", based on skeletons associated with skull material.

In Media

The Titanotylopus appears as one of the 36 extinct animals in . It was identified as the Giant Camel in the game.

References

# Björn Kurtén and Elaine Anderson "Pleistoceone Mammals of North America" (New York : Columbia University Press, 1980), p. 301 ISBN 0-231-03733-3
# ibid., 302.
# loc. cit.
*"After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life of the Past)" by Donald R. Prothero
*Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): "The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life". Simon & Schuster.
*"The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth, Second Edition" by Stephen Jay Gould
*"Classification of Mammals" by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell

ee also

*Aepycamelus
*Camelops
*Oxydactylus
*Poebrotherium
*Procamelus
*Protylopus
*Stenomylus
*Pleistocene megafauna