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Argyrohippus

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Extinct genus of mammals
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Argyrohippus
Temporal range: Late Oligocene-Early Miocene
~23–17.5 Ma PreꞒ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Argyrohippus fraterculus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Notoungulata
Family: Notohippidae
Genus: Argyrohippus
Ameghino 1902
Type species
Argyrohippus fraterculus
Ameghino, 1902
Species
  • A. boulei Ameghino 1902
  • A. fraterculus Ameghino 1902
  • A. praecox Partterson 1935

Argyrohippus is an extinct genus of notoungulate, belonging to the family Notohippidae. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Early Miocene, and its fossilized remains were found in South America.

Description

This animal was probably vaguely similar in build and size to a goat. It is mostly known from remains of its dentition, which was very specialized : the dentition was complete and continuous (without diastema), but the premolars and molars were hypsodonts. The canines were small. The premolars had a very developed cingulum, while the molars were quite elongated. The shape of the premolars and molar was very reminiscent of those of Equidae. Its most peculiar distinctive characteristics were the cup-shaped internal cingula and the lack of singula on the premolars, and a thick layer of cementum.

Classification

The genus Argyrohippus (whose name means "Argentine horse") was first described in 1902 by Florentino Ameghino, based on fossil remains found in Early Miocene deposits in Argentina. The type species is Argyrohippus fraterculus; Ameghino described another species, A. boulei, mainly differentiated from the type species by some dental characteristics, like its more protruding incisors, and by its greater size. In 1935, a new species was described by Bryan Patterson, A. praecox, from the Late Oligocene of Argentina, with more brachydont teeth.

Argyrohippus has historically been classified as a member of Notohippidae, a group of notoungulates with teeth similar to those of horses. However, this family is now considered paraphyletic, and several forms included in it may in reality be ancestral to the family Toxodontidae. Argyrohippus may be one of those forms.

Bibliography

  • F. Ameghino. 1902. Première contribution à la connaissance de la fauna mammalogique des couches à Colpodon . Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba 17:71-141
  • Patterson, B. 1935. A new Argyrohippus from the Deseado beds of Patagonia. Fieldiana, Geology 6:161–166
  • G. M. López, A. M. Ribeiro, and M. Bond. 2010. The Notohippidae (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from Gran Barranca: preliminary considerations. In R. H. Madden, A. A. Carlini, M. G. Vucetich, R. F. Kay (eds.), The Paleontology of Gran Barranca: Evolution and Environmental Change through the Middle Cenozoic of Patagonia 143–151
Genera of South American native ungulates
Xenungulata, Pyrotheria, Astrapotheria, and other minor groups
Kollpaniidae?
Didolodontidae
Protolipternidae
Xenungulata
Carodniidae
Pyrotheria
Colombitheriidae
Pyrotheriidae
Astrapotheria
Trigonostylopidae
Astrapotheriidae
Albertogaudryinae
Astrapotheriinae
Uruguaytheriinae
Carodnia vieirai

Pyrotherium romeroi

Astrapotherium magnum
Litopterna
Eulitopterna
Adianthidae
Macraucheniidae
Cramaucheniinae
Macraucheniinae
Proterotherioidea
Anisolambdidae
Anisolambdinae
Sparnotheriodontinae
Proterotheriidae
Megadolodinae
Proterotheriinae
Notopterna
Amilnedwardsiidae
Indaleciidae
Notonychopidae
Incertae sedis
Theosodon garretorum Xenorhinotherium bahiense
Notoungulata
incertae sedis
Notioprogonia
Henricosborniidae
Notostylopidae
Toxodontia
Homalodotheriidae
Isotemnidae
Eutoxodontia
Leontiniidae
Notohippidae
Toxodontidae
Nesodontinae
Toxodontinae
Typotheria
Archaeopithecidae
Oldfieldthomasiidae
Interatheriidae
Interatheriinae
Notopithecinae
Mesotheriidae
Mesotheriinae
Archaeohyracidae
Hegetotheriidae
Hegetotheriinae
Pachyrukhinae
Pachyrukhini
Thomashuxleya rostrata

Huilatherium pluriplicatum

Toxodon platensis
Taxon identifiers
Argyrohippus
Categories:
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