Platygonus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Platygonus compressus Harvard.jpg

| image_caption = Platygonus compressus skeleton at Harvard University

| fossil_range = Late Miocene-Late Pleistocene
~{{fossil range|10.3|0.011}}

| taxon = Platygonus

| authority = LeConte 1848

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| type_species = †Platygonus compressus

| type_species_authority = LeConte 1848

| synonyms =

  • Euchoerus {{small|Leidy 1853}}
  • Hyops {{small|LeConte 1848}}
  • Protochoerus {{small|LeConte 1848}}
  • Selenogonus {{small|Stirton 1947}}

}}

Platygonus ("flat head" in reference to the straight shape of the forehead){{Cite web |title=Peccary |publisher=Idaho Museum of Natural History |url=http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geog/parks/hagerman/text/peccany.htm |date=November 2002 |access-date=1 July 2013}} is an extinct genus of herbivorous peccaries of the family Tayassuidae, endemic to North and South America from the Miocene through Pleistocene epochs (10.3 million to 11,000 years ago), existing for about {{Mya|10.3-0.011|million years}}. P. compressus stood {{convert|2.5|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} tall.{{Cite journal|last1=Perry|first1=Tahlia|last2=van Loenen|first2=Ayla L.|last3=Heiniger|first3=Holly|last4=Lee|first4=Carol|last5=Gongora|first5=Jaime|last6=Cooper|first6=Alan|last7=Mitchell|first7=Kieren J.|date=July 2017|title=Ancient DNA analysis of the extinct North American flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=112|pages=258–267|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.024|issn=1095-9513|pmid=28363818|doi-access=free|bibcode=2017MolPE.112..258P }}{{Cite web|title=Flat-headed Peccary {{!}} Explore the Ice Age Midwest|url=http://iceage.museum.state.il.us/mammals/flat-headed-peccary-0|access-date=2021-08-10|website=iceage.museum.state.il.us}}

Taxonomy

While long thought to be the sister-lineage to the Chacoan peccary based on morphological similarities, a 2017 ancient DNA study which recovered mitochondrial DNA from Platygonus found that all living peccaries are more closely related to each other than they are to Platygonus. The estimated divergence between Platygonus and all living peccaries was placed in the Miocene, around 22 million years ago.{{Cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Tahlia |last2=van Loenen |first2=Ayla L. |last3=Heiniger |first3=Holly |last4=Lee |first4=Carol |last5=Gongora |first5=Jaime |last6=Cooper |first6=Alan |last7=Mitchell |first7=Kieren J. |date=July 2017 |title=Ancient DNA analysis of the extinct North American flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |language=en |volume=112 |pages=258–267 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.024|pmid=28363818 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017MolPE.112..258P }}

Description

File:Platygonus by Knight.jpg]]

Most Platygonus species were similar in size to modern peccaries especially giant peccary, at around {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}} in body length, and had long legs, allowing them to run well. They also had a pig-like snout and long tusks which were probably used to fend off predators.{{Harvnb|Palmer|1999|p=269}}

Ecology

Like modern peccaries, Platygonus is thought to have lived in herds. Their remains are particularly abundant in caves, suggesting that they regularly used them. A study on the population structure of a population of P. compressus from Bat Cave, Missouri found that they had a similar demographic structure to modern peccaries, dominated by young adults, with a progressive attenuation of older adults due to predation and old-age, up to a maximum age of around 10 years.{{Cite journal |last1=Woodruff |first1=Aaron L. |last2=Schubert |first2=Blaine W. |date=2019-07-04 |title=Seasonal denning behavior and population dynamics of the late Pleistocene peccary Platygonus compressus (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Missouri |journal=PeerJ |language=en |volume=7 |pages=e7161 |doi=10.7717/peerj.7161 |pmid=31308997 |pmc=6612422 |s2cid=196610507 |issn=2167-8359|doi-access=free }} Platygonus is thought to have consumed tough foliage like leaves and grass.{{Cite journal |last1=Bradham |first1=Jennifer L. |last2=DeSantis |first2=Larisa R.G. |last3=Jorge |first3=Maria Luisa S.P. |last4=Keuroghlian |first4=Alexine |date=June 2018 |title=Dietary variability of extinct tayassuids and modern white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari ) as inferred from dental microwear and stable isotope analysis |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018217309392 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=499 |pages=93–101 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.03.020|bibcode=2018PPP...499...93B |s2cid=134099913 |url-access=subscription }}

Distribution

During the Late Pleistocene, Platygonus was most common in Eastern North America, with records in the Great Plains and western North America being more sparse.{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Kurt M. |last2=Hill |first2=Matthew G. |date=November 2020 |title=Synthesis and assessment of the flat-headed peccary record in North America |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379120305631 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=248 |pages=106601 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106601|bibcode=2020QSRv..24806601W |s2cid=224865922 |url-access=subscription }} In South America, Platygonus ranged from Colombia to Argentina.{{Cite journal |last1=Gasparini |first1=Germán M. |last2=Moreno-Mancilla |first2=Oscar F. |last3=Cómbita |first3=José L. |date=2021-03-29 |title=Selenogonus narinoensis Stirton, 1947 (Tayassuidae, Cetartiodactyla, Mammalia): taxonomic status and paleobiogeographic implications |url=https://fr.copernicus.org/articles/24/65/2021/ |journal=Fossil Record |language=en |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=65–75 |doi=10.5194/fr-24-65-2021 |s2cid=233421048 |issn=2193-0074|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021FossR..24...65G |hdl=11336/164845 |hdl-access=free }}{{clearleft}}

Taxonomy

File:The Childrens Museum of Indianapolis - Pleistocene Flat-headed Peccary Skull.jpg]]

Platygonus was named by John Lawrence LeConte in 1848 for fossils found in Pleistocene karst deposits in Illinois, which are now preserved in the Academy of National Sciences in Philadelphia.

The following species of Platygonus have been described:{{Paleodb|42437|Platygonus|access-date=2017-10-17}}

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

  • P. bicalcaratus (nomen dubium)
  • P. brachirostris
  • P. chapadmalensis
  • P. cinctus
  • P. compressus (type)
  • P. kraglievichi
  • P. marplatensis
  • P. narinoensis
  • P. oregonensis
  • P. pearcei
  • P. pollenae
  • P. scagliae
  • P. setiger
  • P. striatus
  • P. texanus
  • P. vetus

{{div col end}}

Fossil localities

Fossils of Platygonus have been found in:

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

;Miocene

;Chapadmalalan

;Hemphillian

;Blancan

;Plio-Pleistocene

;Pleistocene

{{div col end}}

References

{{Portal|Paleontology|Prehistoric mammals}}

{{Reflist}}

= Bibliography =

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{Cite book

| last = Fiedal | first = Stuart | editor-last = Haynes | editor-first = Gary

| contribution = Sudden Deaths: The Chronology of Terminal Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction

| title = American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene

| year = 2009 | pages = 21–37 | publisher = Springer

| doi = 10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_2 | isbn = 978-1-4020-8792-9 | series = Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology }}

  • {{Cite book

| editor-last = Palmer | editor-first = D.

| title = The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals

| year = 1999 | publisher = Marshall Editions | location = London

| isbn = 978-1-84028-152-1 }}

{{Refend}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite journal

| last1 = Mendoza | first1 = M.

| last2 = Janis | first2 = C. M.

| last3 = Palmqvist | first3 = P.

| title = Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression

| year = 2006 | journal = Journal of Zoology | volume = 270 | issue = 1 | pages = 90–101

| url = http://webpersonal.uma.es/de/ppb/JZool.pdf | access-date = 1 July 2013

| doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00094.x

| citeseerx = 10.1.1.541.9021

}}

{{Suina|S.|state=collapsed}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1051024}}

†Platygonus

Category:Miocene Artiodactyla

Category:Pliocene Artiodactyla

Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla

Category:Miocene first appearances

Category:Pleistocene genus extinctions

Category:Neogene mammals of North America

Category:Pleistocene mammals of North America

Category:Irvingtonian

Category:Blancan

Category:Hemphillian

Category:Pleistocene Canada

Category:Fossils of Canada

Category:Neogene Mexico

Category:Pleistocene Mexico

Category:Fossils of Mexico

Category:Miocene United States

Category:Pliocene United States

Category:Pleistocene United States

Category:Fossils of the United States

Category:Pliocene mammals of South America

Category:Pleistocene mammals of South America

Category:Ensenadan

Category:Uquian

Category:Chapadmalalan

Category:Neogene Argentina

Category:Pleistocene Argentina

Category:Fossils of Argentina

Category:Pleistocene Bolivia

Category:Fossils of Bolivia

Category:Neogene Colombia

Category:Pleistocene Colombia

Category:Fossils of Colombia

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1848

Category:Ringold Formation Miocene Fauna

Category:Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera

Category:Taxa named by John Lawrence LeConte