Elomeryx

Taxobox
name = "Elomeryx"


image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Elomeryx armatus"
fossil_range = Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Artiodactyla
familia = †Anthracotheriidae
subfamilia = †Bothriodontinae
genus = †"Elomeryx"
genus_authority = Marsh, 1894
type_species = †"Elomeryx armatus"
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* †"E. armatus"
* †"E. borbonicus"
* †"E. cluai"
* †"E. crispus"
* †"E. garbanii"

"Elomeryx" is an extinct genus of artiodactyl ungulate, and is among the earliest known anthracotheres. The genus was extremely widespread, first being found in Asia in the middle Eocene, in Europe during the latest Eocene, and having spread to North America by the early Oligocene.cite journal | author = Ducrocq, S. & F. Lihoreau | year = 2006 | title = The occurrence of bothriodontines (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) in the Paleogene of Asia with special reference to "Elomeryx": Paleobiogeographical implications | journal = Journal of Asian Earth Sciences | volume = 27 | issue = 6 | pages = 885–891 | url = http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1367912005001665 | doi = 10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.09.004]

The 1.50 m (5 ft) long creature had small tusks which it used to uproot plants, and spoon-shaped incisors ideal for pulling and cropping water plants. "Elomeryx" had five-toed hind legs and four-toed front legs, resulting in wide feet which made it easier to walk on soft mud.

References