Palaeosyops (Greek: "old" (paleos), "boar" (kapros), "face" (ops)[1]) is a genus of small brontothere which lived during the early to middle Eocene.[2]
| Palaeosyops Temporal range:
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| Palaeosyops robustus skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Brontotheriidae |
| Genus: | †Palaeosyops |
| Species | |
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Biology and size
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It was about the size of small cattle, with a weight of 600–800 kg depending on the species.[3]
These animals are commonly found in Wyoming fossil beds primarily as fossilized teeth. P. major was the largest species, reaching the size of a small cow. Its describer, Joseph Leidy, erroneously thought that Palaeosyops consumed both plants and animals after examining the fang-like canines. However, it is now known that all brontotheres were strict herbivores, and that many, if not most genera of hornless brontotheres had fang-like canines, possibly for both defense from predators, and intraspecific competition.
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References
edit- ^ "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Fossilworks: Palaeosyops".
- ^ "Paleobiology Database: Palaeosyops robustus". Archived from the original on 2012-12-10. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
External links
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