Propalaeotherium was an early genus of perissodactyl endemic to Europe and Asia during the early Eocene. There are currently six recognised species within the genus, with P. isselanum as the type species (named by Georges Cuvier in 1824).
Taxonomy
Propalaeotherium was named by Paul Gervais; its name means "before Palaeotherium". It was considered a member of Palaeotheriidae by Hooker (1986).J. J. Hooker. 1986. Mammals from the Bartonian (middle/late Eocene) of the Hampshire Basin, southern England. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 39(4):191-478 A 2004 study found it to be an equid instead. A 2016 study lumped the genus back within the Palaeotheriidae.
The species P. parvulum and P. messelensis have been alternately assigned to the equid genus Eurohippus.
Description
Propalaeotherium was a small animal, ranging from 30–60 cm at the shoulder (2.9 to 5.9 hands), and weighing just .S. Legendre. 1988. Les communautes de mammiferes du Paleogene (Eocene superieur et Oligocene) d'Europe occidentale: structure, milieux et evolution. Ph.D. thesis, Universite des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier, France. 2 volumes. 1-265. Despite being an early form of horse, it looked similar to small tapirs. It had no hooves, but instead several small nail-like hooflets. The well-preserved Messel fossils showed their herbivory, specifically their preference to eat berries and leaf matter picked up from the forest floor.
See also
Evolution of the horse List of prehistoric mammals
References
External links BBC Online Science and Nature Horse Evolution