Adinotherium

Adinotherium[1] Temporal range: Early to Mid Miocene
A. ferum skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Notoungulata
Family:	†Toxodontidae
Subfamily:	†Nesodontinae
Genus:	†Adinotherium Ameghino, 1887
Type species
†Adinotherium ovinum
Species
†A. ferum †A. karaikense †A. nitidum †A. ovinum †A. robustum †A. splendidum
Synonyms
†Phobereotherium Ameghino, 1887 †Noadinotherium Ameghino, 1907

Adinotherium (meaning "not terrible beast")^[2] is an extinct genus of Toxodontidae, large bodied hoofed ungulates which inhabited South America during the Miocene living from 17.5—11.61 Ma and existed for approximately 5.89 million years.^[3]

Restoration of A. ovinum

The 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long animal,with a 120 kg weight, looked like a smaller version of its rhinoceros-like relative Toxodon.^[4] Its front legs were somewhat longer than those of its relatives, making its hip and shoulder height about equal. A small horn atop Adinotherium's skull may have played a role in the mating season.^[5]

Notes

1. range and species from Croft et al. (2004), p. 8; synonyms from McKenna and Bell (1997), p. 459.
2. Palmer (1904) p. 80.
3. Paleobiology Database: Adinotherium, Basic info.
4. http://prehistoric-fauna.com/publ/bestiarij/adinotherium_ferum/1-1-0-121
5. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 253. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

References

• Croft, D.A., Flynn, J.J. and Wyss, A.R. 2004. Notoungulata and Litopterna of the Early Miocene Chucal Fauna, Northern Chile. Fieldiana Geology 50(1):1-52.
• 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
• Palmer, T.S. 1904. Index Generum Mammalium: a List of the Genera and Families of Mammals. North American Fauna 23:1-984.