In Depth Whereas its relative Hipparion spread across North America, Eurasia and Africa, Neohipparion is so far only known from North America, from Southern Canada to across most of the United States and Mexico. Neohipparion appeared on the North American landscape at a time when grassy plains were replacing forests as the dominant habitats, a … Read more
In Depth As a primitive Eocene era horse Orohippus is thought to have primarily been a browser, which means it ate leaves of plants rather than grazing grass. However the teeth are also more suited for grinding rather than slicing which suggests a specialisation in eating tougher kinds of vegetation. Orohippus is thought to … Read more
In Depth Sinotherium is a genus of extinct rhinoceros that seems to have been broadly spread across Eurasia between what is now Russia and northern China. The Sinotherium genus is has been believed to have evolved from the earlier Iranotherium. In turn Sinotherium is believed to have given rise to the much better known Elasmotherium. … Read more
In Depth Originally named as a Miocene species of Dicerorhinus, D. leakeyi was re-described as a distinct genus named Rusingaceros in 2010. Rusingaceros is a Miocene aged rhinoceros, the best fossils of which were found upon Rusinga Island which is situated on Lake Victoria, the largest lake on the African continent. Further Reading - Chapter … Read more
In Depth ‘Middle horse’ may seem an uninteresting name for a prehistoric horse, but Mesohippus is actually one of the most important. The middle horse name is actually a reference to the position of Mesohippus in relation to earlier forms like Hyracotherium and larger and later forms like we know today. Aside from having longer … Read more
In Depth Merychippus is one of the best known occurrences of the appearance of the modern horse form that is much better adapted to running. Whereas the earlier forms such as Hyracotherium and Mesohippus had more than one weight bearing toe, Merychippus supported its body weight with feet that ended with a single well adapted … Read more
In Depth The Oligocene and Miocene periods were times of change for the world’s ecosystems, particularly those of the northern hemisphere. Long covered by temperate and in places tropical forests, these were now steadily being replaced by grassy plains. Parahippus is a horse that shows a shift towards coping with these changing environments. Primitive horse … Read more
In Depth Originally classed as a species of Pliohippus, Dinohippus seems to have been one of the most common horses in prehistoric North America. Dinohippus is considered to have been very close to the modern horse genus Equus, and like modern horses, Dinohippus lacked a dished face. Dinohippus was once considered to have been an … Read more
In Depth Hipparion was one of the earlier grazing horses that was similar to Merychippus in form. Like other ‘advanced’ horses of the Miocene, Hipparion supported its body weight upon a single toe that ended with a hoof. Other toes were also still present upon either side of this toe, but they had become so … Read more
In Depth Tylocephalonyx is noted for being one of the dome headed chalicotheres due to the enlarged cranial dome of the skull which is the reason for the first two parts of the name which mean ‘knob head’. The rear part of the name is a reference to the claws on the hands that were … Read more