Archaeomeryx

{{Short description|Extinct genus of deer}}

{{speciesbox

| name = Archaeomeryx

| fossil_range = Early Eocene

| image =

| image_caption =

| genus = Archaeomeryx

| parent_authority = Matthew & Granger, 1925

| species = optatus

| authority = Matthew & Granger, 1925

}}

Archaeomeryx is an extinct genus of ruminant that lived early in the Eocene.{{cite web

|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32595/Archaeomeryx

|title=Archaeomeryx -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628164234/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/32595/Archaeomeryx

|archivedate=2009-06-28

|url-status=live

}}.

{{cite web

|url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v394/n6691/extref/394364a0.appendix1.html

|title=Nature.com

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525145050/http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v394/n6691/extref/394364a0.appendix1.html

|archivedate=2011-05-25

|url-status=live

}}.

{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3bs0D5ix4VAC&q=Archaeomeryx&pg=PA303|title=The Beginning of the Age of Mammals - Google Book Search|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022232041/http://books.google.ca/books?id=3bs0D5ix4VAC&pg=PA303&lpg=PA303&dq=Archaeomeryx&source=web&ots=I0ren6cU4g&sig=7OwC0maYpgx8jhcAgl_AU9KB0b8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result|url-status=live|archivedate=2012-10-22|isbn=9780801884726|last1=Rose|first1=Kenneth D.|date=2006-09-26|publisher=JHU Press }}.

It is believed to be close to the ancestry of the group Pecora, which includes deer, giraffes, cows and their relatives. Unlike the modern members of this group, it had a set of functioning incisors in the upper jaw.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/aprilholladay/2006-09-05-cows-mirrors_x.htm|title=Toothless cud chewers, To see ourselves as others see us... - USATODAY.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108041428/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/aprilholladay/2006-09-05-cows-mirrors_x.htm|archivedate=2009-01-08 |url-status=live| work=USA Today | date=2006-09-05 | accessdate=2010-04-25}}.

It was small in size, comparable to a modern-day mouse deer.{{cite web|url=http://www.universalis.fr/eb/a/a63.html|title=Browse - Encyclopédie Universalis|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429192713/http://www.universalis.fr/eb/a/a63.html|url-status=dead|archivedate=2011-04-29}}.

It was also very rabbit-like and had several distinctive characteristics.{{cite web|url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional/part2c.html|title=Title|accessdate=2008-12-14| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090119054040/http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-transitional/part2c.html| archivedate= 19 January 2009 | url-status= live}} It lived in present-day China 35 to 40 million years ago.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/02/arts/reviews-art-old-master-paintings-from-behind-closed-doors.html?pagewanted=2|title=New York Times|accessdate=2008-12-14 | first=Michael | last=Brenson | date=1988-09-02}}