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Protohippus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Clarendonian-Hemphillian
~{{fossil range|13.6|5.3}}

| image = Protohippus AMNH.jpg

| image_caption = Protohippus simus skeleton

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Protohippus

| authority = Leidy, 1858

| type_species = Equus (Protohippus) perditus

| type_species_authority = Leidy, 1858

}}

Protohippus is an extinct three-toed genus of horse. It was roughly the size of a modern donkey. Fossil evidence suggests that it lived during the Late Miocene (Clarendonian to Hemphillian), from about 13.6 Ma to 5.3 Ma.

Analysis of Protohippus{{'}} skull and teeth suggests that it is most closely related to the genus Calippus.

{{Multiple image

| image1 = Protohippus simus with fetus.jpg

| image2 = Protohippus simus skull.jpg

| align = center

| footer = P. simus. This animal died from a breech birth, where the hind feet instead of the head of the foal emerges first. As the foal did not fully emerge, infection may have ensued, killing the mother. From Cherry County, Nebraska. At the AMNH.

| total_width = 400

| caption1 = Fetus

| caption2 = Skull

}}

File:EB1911 Palaeontology - hind foot bone - front view - protohippus.jpg

Species

  • P. vetus
  • P. perditus
  • P. supremus (also P. simus)
  • P. gidleyi

See also

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal|last1=Hulbert|first1=Richard C. Jr.|title=Calippus and Protohippus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the Miocene (Barstovian-Early Hemphillian) of the Gulf Coastal Plain|journal=Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences|date=1988|volume=32|issue=3|pages=221–340|url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/files/5314/7180/5153/Vol-32-No-3.PDF|language=en}}

{{cite journal | last1 = MacFadden | first1 = Bruce J. | last2 = Dobie | first2 = James L. | year = 1998 | title = Late Miocene Three-Toed Horse Protohippus (Mammalia, Equidae) from Southern Alabama | journal = Journal of Paleontology | volume = 72 | issue = 1 | pages = 149–152 | doi = 10.1017/S0022336000024082 | jstor = 1306685 | bibcode = 1998JPal...72..149M | s2cid = 132815106 }}

{{cite journal|last=Leidy |first=Joseph |date=1858 |title=Notice of Remains of Extinct Vertebrata, from the Valley of the Niobrara River, collected during the Exploring Expedition of 1857, in Nebraska, under the command of Lieut. G. K. Warren, U. S. Top. Eng., by Dr. F. V. Hayden, Geologist to the Expedition |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=10 |pages = 20–29 |url = https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47535620 |jstor =4059296 }}

{{cite journal|last=Leidy |first=Joseph |date = 1869 |title= The Extinct Mammalian Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska: Including an Account of Some Allied Forms from Other Localities, Together with a Synopsis of the Mammalian Remains of North America | journal = Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | series= Ser. 2 | volume = 7 | pages = 275–279, 401 | url = https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35884887 }}

}}

{{Perissodactyla Genera|P.}}

{{Equidae extinct nav}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q3408120}}

Category:Miocene horses

Category:Prehistoric placental genera

Category:Miocene mammals of North America

Category:Clarendonian

Category:Hemphillian

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1858

Category:Taxa named by Joseph Leidy

Category:Equini