Protorohippus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Eocene (Wasatchian)

| image = Protorohippus Green River Formation.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil from the Green River Formation

| taxon = Protorohippus

| authority = Wortman, 1896

| type_species = Protorohippus venticolum

| type_species_authority = (Cope, 1881)

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

  • P. venticolum (Cope, 1881)
  • P. montanum Wortman, 18961

| synonyms =

  • Hyracotherium venticolum Cope, 1881
  • Hyracotherium vasacciense venticolum Kitts, 1956
  • Eohippus venticolum Granger, 1908

}}

Protorohippus (Latin: "before" (pro), + Greek: "mountain" (oros), "horse" (hippos){{cite web|url=https://research.amnh.org/paleontology/perissodactyl/concepts/glossary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120123130/https://research.amnh.org/paleontology/perissodactyl/concepts/glossary|archive-date=20 November 2021|title=Glossary. American Museum of Natural History}}) is an extinct genus of equid that lived in the Eocene of North America.{{Cite journal | last1 = Froehlich | first1 = D. J. | title = Quo vadis eohippus? The systematics and taxonomy of the early Eocene equids (Perissodactyla) | doi = 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00005.x | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 134 | issue = 2 | pages = 141–256 | year = 2002 | doi-access = free }}

Palaeobiology

Based on oxygen and carbon isotope analysis of the teeth of P. montanum, the species is believed to have had two distinct birth seasons per year, a result of the diminished seasonality during the Early Eocene. It is possible that this phenomenon held for other early equids as well.{{Cite journal |last=D’Ambrosia |first=Abigail R. |last2=Clyde |first2=William C. |last3=Fricke |first3=Henry C. |last4=Chew |first4=Amy E. |date=15 November 2014 |title=Stable isotope patterns found in early Eocene equid tooth rows of North America: Implications for reproductive behavior and paleoclimate |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018214004684 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=414 |pages=310–319 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.09.014 |access-date=21 February 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}image:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17536793244).jpg]]

File:Hyracotherium vasacciense venticolum.JPG

See also

{{Portal|Paleontology}}

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Perissodactyla Genera|P.}}

{{Equidae extinct nav}}

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Category:Eocene horses

Category:Eocene Perissodactyla

Category:Prehistoric placental genera

Category:Eocene mammals of North America

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Category:Fossil taxa described in 1896