Homacodontidae

Homacodontidae is an extinct family of basal artiodactyl mammals from the early Eocene to late Oligocene of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Homacodontidae
Temporal range:
Hylomeryx annectens
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Tylopoda
Family: †Homacodontidae
Marsh, 1874
Genera

see text

Description

They were small animals, averaging about the size of a modern rabbit, had many primitive features. In life, they would have resembled a long-tailed muntjac or chevrotain. Dichobunids had four or five toes on each foot, with each toe ending in a small hoof. They had complete sets of teeth, unlike most later artiodactyls, with their more specialist dentitions.[1] The shape of the teeth suggests they were browsers, feeding on small leaves, perhaps in the forest undergrowth. The shape of their bodies and limbs suggests they would have been fast-running animals, unlike most of their contemporaries.[2]

Taxonomy

McKenna and Bell (1997) listed homacodonts as a subfamily of Dichobunidae.[3] However, subsequent authors recognize Homacodontidae as a distinct family in its own right.[4][5]

The following genera are listed below as per McKenna and Bell (1997), with few additions since:

  • Bunomeryx
  • Hylomeryx
  • Mesomeryx
  • Mytonomeryx
  • Gagadon[5]
  • Pentacemylus
  • Hexacodus
  • Homacodon
  • Microsus
  • Texodon

References
  1. Savage, RJG & Long, MR (1986). Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide. New York: Facts on File. pp. 208–209. ISBN 0-8160-1194-X.
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 266. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  3. McKenna, M. C; S. K. Bell (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11012-X.
  4. J. M. Theodor, J. Erfurt, and G. Metais. 2007. The earliest artiodactyls. In D. R. Prothero, S. E. Foss (eds.), The Evolution of Artiodactyls 32-58.
  5. Stucky, Richard K.; Covert, Herbert H. (2014). "A new genus and species of early Eocene (Ypresian) Artiodactyla (Mammalia), Gagadon minimonstrum, from Bitter Creek, Wyoming, U.S.A." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (3): 731–736. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.827580.


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