Xenorhinotherium
| Xenorhinotherium Temporal range: Pleistocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Litopterna |
| Family: | Macraucheniidae |
| Genus: | Xenorhinotherium |
| Species: | X. bahiensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Xenorhinotherium bahiensis Cartelle e Lessa, 1988 | |
Xenorhinotherium bahiensis is an extinct Brazilian macraucheniid closely related to Macrauchenia of Patagonia.
Name
Some authors place X. bahiensis in the genus Macrauchenia, while still others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. Xenorhinotherium bahiensis is the only macraucheniid to be found in Brazil. The genus name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiensis refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where its fossils are found.[1]
Characteristics
Like other macraucheniids, X. bahiensis had a small proboscis, or trunk, and three toes on each foot. This animal was an herbivore that averaged around five meters in length, and was approximately three meters in height. In life, X. bahiensis probably looked very much like a larger version of Macrauchenia, that is, vaguely like a very tall, humpless camel with a small, tapir-like trunk.
Era and location
Fossils of Xenorhinotherium, dating from the Pleistocene Epoch, have been found in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais in modern Brazil,[2] and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima Taima and Cuenca del Lago.[3]
References
- ↑ CARTELLE, C. & LESSA, G. 1988. Descrição de um novo gênero e espécie de Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) do Pleistoceno do Brasil. Paulacoutiana, 3:3-26.
- ↑ Carolina Saldanha Scherer, Vanessa Gregis Pitana & Ana Maria Ribeiro. Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Rio Grande de Sul state, Brazil. Rev. bras. paleontol. 12(3):231-246, Setembro/Dezembro 2009, doi:10.4072/rbp.2009.3.06
- ↑ Socorro, O.A.A. 2006. Tesoros paleontológicos de Venezuela, el Cuaternario del Estado Falcón. Taima Taima, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, 120 p.