Thuliadanta

Thuliadanta is an extinct genus of ceratomorph perissodactyl closely related to modern tapirs that is known from the early Eocene Margaret Formation of Arctic Canada (Nunavut and Northwest Territories).

Thuliadanta
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Helaletidae
Genus: Thuliadanta
Eberle, 2005
Species:
T. mayri
Binomial name
Thuliadanta mayri
Eberle, 2005

Paleogeographic significance

Thuliadenta is known from the highest northern latitudinal region of any extinct tapiroid, indicating a possible North American origin for Tapiroidea. Judging from the use of the mountain tapir as an analogue, Thuliadanta may have been a year-round inhabitant in the mild temperate lowland forests of the Eocene High Arctic.[1]

References

  1. J. J. Eberle. 2005. A new 'tapir' from Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada - Implications for northern high latitude palaeobiogeography and tapir palaeobiology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 227:311-322.
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