Loading AI tools
Extinct genus of mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Miniochoerus is an extinct genus of small oreodont endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene 38–30.8 mya, existing for approximately 7 million years.[1] Fossils have been found only in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming.[citation needed]
| Miniochoerus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| M. gracilis skeleton, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | †Merycoidodontidae |
| Subfamily: | †Miniochoerinae |
| Genus: | †Miniochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956 |
| Type species | |
| †Miniochoerus battlecreekensis | |
| Species[1] | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
Typically, there were about the size of a small dog. Their skulls were small and short, compared to other oreodont species, many of which had proportionately large heads. Unlike other oreodont species, they had small canines which would have done little good against foes. The genus arose during the late Eocene, and survived the Late Eocene extinction event, giving rise to a dwarfed lineage during the early Oligocene.[3]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
