| Perchoerus | |
|---|---|
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| Fossils in Berlin | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Tayassuidae |
| Genus: | †Perchoerus Leidy, 1869 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Perchoerus is an extinct genus of suine from the Eocene and Oligocene of North America. Three species are known.[1][2] While often considered to be a peccary, other studies have recovered it to be a basal suine outside of either peccaries or Suidae.[3]
Description.
The oldest known species of Perchoerus is P. minor, which was only the size of a house cat. It is known from skull and tooth material. The later P. nanus of the Orellan grew larger and is known from a skull and lower jaw. The latest and largest species was P. probus of the Oligocene (32-30 mya). It was much larger (about as big as living peccaries) and known from more remains than the other species.[1][4] The molars of Perchoerus are quadrituberculate and lack any of the accessory cuspules present in modern peccaries. The feet bore 4 functional digits and had free metacarpals. The bones in the forearm were separate.[5]
Palaeoecology
Low δ13C values from the teeth of P. probus suggest that it was an inhabitant of dense riparian habitats.[6]
References
- ^ a b c Prothero, Donald R. (2021). THE SYSTEMATICS OF NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES (MAMMALIA: ARTIODACTYLA: TAYASSUIDAE) By · 2021. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. pp. 6–8.
- ^ Prothero, Donald R. (2009). "THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES". Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin. 65: 509–542.
- ^ Parisi Dutra, Rodrigo; Casali, Daniel de Melo; Missagia, Rafaela Velloso; Gasparini, Germán Mariano; Perini, Fernando Araujo; Cozzuol, Mario Alberto (2016-09-13). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (3): 345–358. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8. hdl:11336/54840. ISSN 1064-7554.
- ^ Prothero, Donald R.; Williams, Mary Persis (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. pp. 157–158. ISBN 9781400884452.
- ^ Scott, William Berryman; Scott, William Berryman (1913). A history of land mammals in the Western Hemisphere; illustrated with 32 plates and more than 100 drawings. New York: Macmillan.
- ^ Boardman, Grant S.; Secord, Ross (1 April 2013). "Stable isotope paleoecology of White River ungulates during the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition in northwestern Nebraska". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 375: 38–49. Bibcode:2013PPP...375...38B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.02.010. Retrieved 17 November 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
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