Blastomeryx

{{Short description|Extinct genus of deer}}

{{automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Early to Middle Miocene{{pb}}{{fossil range|20.4|10.3}}

| image = Blastomeryx skeleton, from Abel, O. (1919). Die Stämme der Wirbeltiere.jpg

| image_caption = Skeletal econstruction

| taxon = Blastomeryx

| authority = Cope, 1877

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * B. cursor Cook 1934

• B. gemmifer Cope 1874
• B. vigoratus Hay 1924

| synonyms = * B. elegans

• B. francesca
• B. medius
• B. mollis
• B. pristinus
• B. tantillus

}}

Blastomeryx is an extinct genus of musk deer endemic to North America. It lived during the Miocene epoch 20.4—10.3 mya, existing for approximately {{Mya|20-10|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42642 Blastomeryx at fossilworks] There may be only one species, Blastomeryx gemmifer.Prothero, 2007 (p. 221-226){{full|date=October 2018}}

Blastomeryx was {{convert|75|cm}} long and looked like a modern chevrotain. Its canines were elongated into tusks which it probably used to uproot plants and fend off predators. While Blastomeryx (as well as modern musk deer) lacked antlers, a Middle Miocene species had bony knobs on its skull, which have been interpreted as incipient horns.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 273|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}