Chalicotherium
Name:
Chalicotherium
(Pebble beast).
Phonetic: Cha-lih-co-fee-ree-um.
Named By: Johann Jakob Kaup - 1833.
Synonyms: Chalicotherium antiquum, C.
baltavarense, C. grande, C. minus, C. modicum, C.
pentelicum, C. posterigenium, C. sindiense, C. sinense,
C. sivalense, Macrotherium salinum, Schizotherium pilgrimi,
S. wetzleri.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Perissodactyla, Chalicotheriidae.
Species: C. goldfussi (type),
C. brevirostris.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 2.6 meters high at the shoulder.
Known locations: Africa, Asia, Europe.
Time period: Late Burdigalian to Tortonian of the
Miocene.
Fossil representation: Multiple remains.
Chalicotherium
is the type genus of the Chalicotheriidae, strange herbivores that
look like hybrids between horses and ground sloths. The horse
comparison comes from the shape of the head that is similar in form and
proportion to that of a horse, while the body is supported upon two
long front limbs and two squat rear limbs which lead to the comparison
to ground sloths like Megatherium.
For
most of its time
Chalicotherium would have been a quadrupedal animal
that was not
particularly fast but stable on its feet. However while the rear
limbs were suited to constant contact with the ground and offered the
main weight bearing support, the front limbs were only used for
support when Chalicotherium was walking forwards.
These front limbs
actually ended in elongated claws so large that when Chalicotherium
walked on all fours the claws had to be folded to face backwards so
that it was actually the knuckles that bore the animals weight.
When
Chalicotherium stopped
to feed upon a plant it would lean back to support itself on its hind
legs while using the longer fore arms to gain additional reach into the
tree canopy. This is why Chalicotherium was
careful with its claws
when it was walking, as these claws allowed Chalicotherium
to reach
around branches and pull them down towards the mouth just like the
large ground sloths. The pelvis that the rear legs connected to was
also well developed for supporting Chalicotherium
as it reached up to
feed with bony growths on the hip region indicating an increased level
of wear for this region.
Aside
from the long front
limbs and claws Chalicotherium had a further
specialised feeding
adaptation. When the animal grew to adulthood the anterior teeth
(incisors and canines used for snipping and shearing) where shed
from the mouth leaving only the molars at the back. This means that
Chalicotherium had to rely upon its lips, gums and
possibly tongue to
strip of off what was presumably softer vegetation and possibly fruits
from high up (tough vegetation usually requires the use of
specialised teeth for removal). Once this plant matter was in the
mouth it was ground by the round molars before swallowing. These
pebble-like molars are the inspiration for the name Chalicotherium
which means ‘pebble beast’.
Chalicotherium
was quite a
large animal for the Miocene which meant that the only animals that it
had to worry about were possibly predators such as bear dogs like
Amphicyon.
As briefly mentioned above Chalicotherium is the
type
genus of its group, with two other similar creatures being Moropus
from North America and Kalimantsia from Europe.
Further reading
- Stratigraphy, chronology, biogeography, and taxonomy of Early Miocene
small chalicotheres in North America. - Journal of Vertebrate
Paleontology: Vol. 21, #3, pp. 607–620. - M. C. Coombs, R. M. Hunt Jr,
E. Stepleton, L. B. Albright III & T. J. Fremd - 2001.
- New material of Chalicotherium from the Tsaidam
Basin in the northern
Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. - Palaeontologische Zeitschrift, Vol
75, Fascicle 2. Pages 219-226. - Xiaoming Wang & Banyue Wang -
2001.
- The origin of chalicotheres (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) -
Palaeontology: Vol. 47, #6, pp. 1363–1386. - J. J. Hooker & D.
Dashzeveg - 2004.
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