Heteroprox
{{Short description|Extinct genus of deer}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|15.97|11.61}} Miocene
| image = Heteroprox larteti 434.jpg
| image_caption = Skull
| taxon = Heteroprox
| authority = Schaub, 1928
| type_species = †Heteroprox larteti
|type_species_authority = Filhol, 1891 (as Cervus larteti)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- H. anatoliensis
- H. eggeri
- H. larteti
- H. moralesi
}}
Heteroprox is an extinct genus of deer from the Miocene of Europe.
Description
Heteroprox was a mid-sized deer that would have been similar in appearance to a muntjac. It would have stood about {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall and weighed around {{convert|35|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}.
It had fairly long legs, and two-pronged antlers. Based on its leg proportions, it was probably semi-aquatic and lived in humid, swampy environments.{{cite book |last1=Agustí |first1=Jordi |last2=Antón |first2=Mauricio |title=Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe |date=2002 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231116411 |page=141}}
Palaeoecology
Dental microwear and mesowear indicates that H. larteti consumed significant quantities of abrasive grasses.{{Cite journal |last1=DeMiguel |first1=Daniel |last2=Azanza |first2=Beatriz |last3=Morales |first3=Jorge |date=15 March 2011 |title=Paleoenvironments and paleoclimate of the Middle Miocene of central Spain: A reconstruction from dental wear of ruminants |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018211000605 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=302 |issue=3–4 |pages=452–463 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2011.02.005 |bibcode=2011PPP...302..452D |access-date=1 January 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2074866}}
Category:Miocene mammals of Europe
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1928
Category:Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera
{{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub}}