Coryphodon

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iCoryphodon
Fossil range: Late Paleocene to Mid Eocene

Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pantodonta
Family: Coryphodontidae
Genus: Coryphodon
Owen, 1845
Species
  • C. eocaenus
  • C. dabuensis
  • C. lobatus
  • C. oweni
  • C. proterus
  • C. ryani

Coryphodon is an extinct genus of mammal.

With a length of 2,25 m (7 ft 6 in), it was the world's first large browsing mammal (the biggest mammal ever at the time). Coryphodon had a semi-aquatic lifestyle, like a hippopotamus, and probably lived in swamps and marshes. It was widespread in North America between 59 and 51 million years ago.

Coryphodon, especially males, had short tusks used to uproot swamp plants. The creature was very slow due to its long upper limbs and short lower limbs, which were needed to support its weight. Coryphodon had the smallest brain/body ratio of all mammals, living or extinct, possessing a brain weighing 90 grams at a body weight of half a ton.

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