Notostylops
Appearance
Notostylops | |
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Notostylops | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Notoungulata |
Family: | †Notostylopidae |
Genus: | †Notostylops Ameghino, 1897 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
Notostylops ("south pillar face") is a genus of extinct South American ungulates from Eocene Argentina. Fossils of the genus have been found in the Sarmiento, Casamayor, Andesitas Huancache and Koluel Kaike Formations.[1]
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Size comparison of Notostylops murinus with a human.
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Life reconstruction.
Description
[edit]Notostylops was a very generalized animal, very similar to first eutherians and ungulates. It would have superficially resembled a marmot or a wombat and is suspected to have browsed on low-growing plants. It was probably adapted to a fairly wide range of ecological niches, but its robustness indicates it had some digging adaptations.[2][3] Its tall skull housed rodent-like incisor teeth. Notostylops was about 75 centimetres (30 in) long.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Notostylops at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Croft, Darin. Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys. Indiana University Press.
- ^ Lorente, Malena; Gelfo, Javier; Lopez, Guillermo (2018). "First skeleton of the notoungulate mammal Notostylops murinus and palaeobiology of Eocene Notostylopidae". Lethaia. 52 (2): 244–259. doi:10.1111/let.12310. S2CID 135127572.
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 250. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
- Media related to Notostylops at Wikimedia Commons