Oxydactylus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Oligocene – Middle Miocene, {{Fossil range|28.4|13.7}}

| image = Oxydactylus campestris LACM.jpg

| image_caption = Skeleton of Oxydactylus campestris in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

| taxon = Oxydactylus

| authority = Peterson 1904

| type_species = †Oxydactylus longipes

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * O. lacota Matthew & Macdonald 1960

• O. longipes Peterson 1904
• O. wyomingensis Loomis 1936

}}

Oxydactylus is an extinct genus of camelid endemic to North America. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene (28.4–13.7 mya), existing for approximately {{Mya|28-14|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=4538 Oxydactylus at fosilworks] The name is from the Ancient Greek οξύς (oxys, "sharp")and δάκτυλος (daktylos, "finger").

File:Oxydactylus longipes.jpg

They had very long legs and necks, and were probably adapted to eating high vegetation, much like modern giraffes. Unlike modern camelids, they had hooves, rather than tough sole-pads, and splayed toes.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 277|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}