Pseudoprotoceras
| Pseudoprotoceras Temporal range: Late Eocene
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|---|---|
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| Skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | †Protoceratidae |
| Genus: | †Pseudoprotoceras Cook, 1934 |
| Type species | |
| †Pseudoprotoceras longinaris | |
Pseudoprotoceras is an extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to central North America from the Eocene epoch (Late Uintan stage) 42—39.9 Ma, existing for approximately 2.1 million years.[1]
Taxonomy
Pseudoprotoceras was named by Cook (1934). Its type is Pseudoprotoceras longinaris. It was synonymized subjectively with Poabromylus by Wilson (1974). It was assigned to Protoceratinae by Prothero (1998) and Webb et al. (2003); and to Protoceratidae by Cook (1934), Emry and Storer (1981), Carroll (1988) and Prothero and Ludtke (2007).[2][3][4][5][6]
Morphology
Pseudoprotoceras resembled deer. However they were more closely related to camelids. In addition to having horns in the more usual place, protoceratids had additional, rostral horns above the orbital cavity.
Body mass
Four fossil specimens of Pseudoprotoceras were measured by M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist for body mass.[7]
- Specimen 1: 47.4 kg (100 lb)
- Specimen 2: 32.8 kg (72 lb)
- Specimen 3: 26.4 kg (58 lb)
- Specimen 3: 22.7 kg (50 lb)
Body mass was similar to other Eocene Protoceratidae such as Heteromeryx and Poabromylus yet greater than Leptotragulus and Leptoreodon. Miocene members were apparently larger as well.
References
- ^ PaleoBiology Database: Toromeryx, basic info
- ^ H. J. Cook. 1934. New artiodactyls from the Oligocene and Lower Miocene of Nebraska. American Midland Naturalist 15(2):148-165
- ^ J. A. Wilson. 1974. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin 23
- ^ S. D. Webb, B. L. Beatty, and G. Poinar, Jr. 2003. New evidence of Miocene Protoceratidae including a new species from Chiapas, Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279:348-367
- ^ R. J. Emry and J. E. Storer. 1981. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1
- ^ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
- ^ M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist. 2006. Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression. Journal of Zoology 270(1):90-101
- Emry, R. J., and J. E. Storer. 1981. The hornless protoceratid Pseudoprotoceras (Tylopoda: Artiodactyla) in the early Oligocene of Saskatchewan and Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1:101-110.
- McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. ISBN 0-231-11013-8
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