Subhyracodon

Subhyracodon (Latin: "below" (sub), + Greek: "hyrax" (hyrak = 'shrewmouse'), and "tooth" (odontos, referring to the genus Hyracodon)[5]) is an extinct genus of hornless rhinoceroses. With a length of 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) and a weight estimated of 381.3 kg (841 lb) (in S. mitis), it was a tapir-sized herbivore on the plains of early Oligocene South Dakota 33 million years ago (White River Fauna). It coexisted with other perissodactyls such as horses, brontotheres, and chalicotheres.[6] Subhyracodon had no horns, relying more on its speed to escape from predators, but a species found at Wind Cave National Park had a pair of bony nasal ridges. The genus Caenopus and species originally referred to as Aceratherium were synonymized into Subhyracodon.[7]

Life restoration by Charles R. Knight
Skull

Subhyracodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene to Late Oligocene, [1]
Subhyracodon occidentalis skeleton
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Subfamily: †Elasmotheriinae
Genus: †Subhyracodon
Brandt, 1878
Type species
Subhyracodon occidentalis
Species[2]
  • †S. kewi
  • †S. mitis
  • †S. occidentalis
Synonyms

References
  1. Prothero, 2005, p. 41.
  2. Prothero, 2005, pp. 40-47.
  3. McKenna & Bell, 1997, p. 481.
  4. Prothero, 2005, p. 43.
  5. "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
  6. "Paleobiology Database: Subhyracodon mitis". Archived from the original on 2012-07-10. Retrieved 2012-05-29.
  7. C.C. O'Harra (1920). The White River Badlands. Rapid City, SD: South Dakota School of Mines. p. 181.
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