- Palaeotherium
Taxobox
name = "Palaeotherium"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early to MiddleEocene
image_width = 250px
image_caption = Restoration byHeinrich Harder
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammalia
ordo =Perissodactyla
familia =Palaeotheriidae
genus = "Palaeotherium"
genus_authority = Cuvier, 1804
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* ?"P. curtum"
* ?"P. duvalii"
* ?"P. medium"
* "P. parvulum"
* "P. muehlbergi"
* "P. minus"
* "P. magnum" "Palaeotherium" ('old beast') is an extinct genus of primitiveperissodactyl ungulate .George Cuvier originally described them as being a kind oftapir , and as such, "Palaeotherium" is popularly reconstructed as a tapir-like animal. Recent reexaminations of the skulls show that the nasal cavity was not designed to support a small trunk, thus starting a recent trend to reconstruct them as looking morehorse -like. Recent anatomical studies also suggest that "Palaeotherium", along with otherpalaeothere genera such as "Hyracotherium ", were closely related to horses.The average species of "Palaeotherium" was about 75 cm (2 ft 6 in) tall at the shoulder and lived in the
tropical forest s coveringEurope around 45 million years ago, during the early to midEocene . The largest species, "P. magnum" of Mid EoceneFrance , grew to be almost as large as a horse.
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