Palaeotherium

Taxobox
name = "Palaeotherium"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early to Middle Eocene

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image_width = 250px
image_caption = Restoration by Heinrich Harder
regnum = Animalia
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 primitive perissodactyl ungulate. George Cuvier originally described them as being a kind of tapir, 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 more horse-like. Recent anatomical studies also suggest that "Palaeotherium", along with other palaeothere 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 forests covering Europe around 45 million years ago, during the early to mid Eocene. The largest species, "P. magnum" of Mid Eocene France, grew to be almost as large as a horse.