Hippotherium
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{about|the first equine|the artiodactyl|Hippopotamus}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil_range|15|11}}Middle to Late Miocene
| image = Hipparion.JPG
| image_caption = Skeleton of Hippotherium primigenium, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Hippotherium
| authority = Kaup, 1832
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- H. primigenius (von Meyer, 1829) (type species)
- H. weihoense (Liu et al. 1978)
- H. koenigswaldi (Sondaar, 1961)
- H. catalaunicum (Perlot, 1956)
}}
Hippotherium is an extinct genus of horse that lived during the Miocene through Pliocene ~13.65—6.7 Mya, existing for {{Mya|13.65-6.7|million years}}.
The last known surviving Hippotherium was H. malpassii, found in Italy.{{cite journal|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221002853|title=Old world hipparion evolution, biogeography, climatology and ecology|date=2021 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103784|hdl=10138/335765|hdl-access=free |last1=Bernor |first1=Raymond L. |last2=Kaya |first2=Ferhat |last3=Kaakinen |first3=Anu |last4=Saarinen |first4=Juha |last5=Fortelius |first5=Mikael |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=221 |bibcode=2021ESRv..22103784B |s2cid=239657555 }}
Species
File:Hippotherium gracile MHNT.PAL.2013.0.1020.1.jpg
File:Hippotherium gracile MHNT.PAL.2013.0.1020.3 métapode.jpg
File:Hipparion gracile MNHN1.jpg
File:Hipparion primigenius 01.jpg
The type species, H. primigenium, is known from Miocene deposits in Europe (e.g., the Hegau region in southern Germany){{cite journal |last1=Bernor |first1=Raymond L. |last2=Tobien |first2=Heinz |last3=Hayek |first3=Lee-Ann C. |last4=Mittmann |first4=Hans-Walter |date=1997 |title=Hippotherium primigenium (Equidae, Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Höwenegg (Hegau, Germany) |journal=Andrias |volume=10 |pages=1–230}} and the Middle East, while the species H. koenigswaldi and H. catalaunicum have been found in Miocene deposits in Spain.{{cn|date=February 2020}} The Asian hipparionin "Hipparion" weihoense from early Late Miocene deposits in northern China has also been referred to the genus.{{cite journal |last1=Bernor |first1=Raymond L. |last2=Wang |first2=Shiqi |last3=Liu |first3=Yan |last4=Chen |first4=Yu |last5=Sun |first5=Boyang |date=2018 |title=Shanxihippus dermatorhinus comb. nov. with comparisons to old world hipparions with specialized nasal apparati |journal=Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia |volume=124 |issue=2 |pages=361–386 |doi=10.13130/2039-4942/10202}} Armin Scherzinger, Johanne Baier, Günter Schweigert, & Roland Berka (2024): Zur Entstehung der Höwenegg-Vulkangruppe und der Höwenegg-Schichten im Hegau. Jh. Ges. Naturkde. Württemberg. 180: 501–528.
Diet
H. primigenium was a generalist feeder which frequently browsed but could also exploit grasses.{{Cite journal |last1=Tütken |first1=Thomas |last2=Kaiser |first2=Thomas M. |last3=Vennemann |first3=Torsten |last4=Merceron |first4=Gildas |date=11 September 2013 |editor-last=Ungar |editor-first=Peter Stuart |title=Opportunistic Feeding Strategy for the Earliest Old World Hypsodont Equids: Evidence from Stable Isotope and Dental Wear Proxies |journal=PLoS ONE |language=en |volume=8 |issue=9 |pages=e74463 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0074463 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=3770545 |pmid=24040254 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...874463T }} The dental mesowear of H. primigenium reveals that it lived in both open environments such as reed flats and closed environments such as mesophytic forests.{{Cite journal |last1=Kaiser |first1=Thomas M. |date=1 October 2003 |title=The dietary regimes of two contemporaneous populations of Hippotherium primigenium (Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the Vallesian (Upper Miocene) of Southern Germany |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018203004802?casa_token=A-tF6f2tLvEAAAAA:tNc6oH67R9-OIfi1Ho7C9f4pgZfw33Z1n-NSfqxnZcEjHRsbmokTs-vIGTWM6BdOaH-y5DKqJrQ |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=198 |issue=3-4 |pages=381–402 |doi=10.1016/S0031-0182(03)00480-2 |access-date=11 December 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}
Fossil distribution
References
{{Reflist}}
{{portal|Paleontology}}
{{Perissodactyla Genera|P.}}
{{Equidae extinct nav}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3785745}}
Category:Neogene mammals of Europe
Category:Neogene mammals of Africa
Category:Neogene mammals of Asia
Category:Miocene Perissodactyla
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Miocene genus first appearances