Ancylotherium
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Ancylotherium hennigi |
Ancylotherium (from Greek, meaning "hooked beast") was one of the last surviving chalicotheres, living 6.5 million to 2 million years ago, during the late Miocene and for most of the Pliocene.
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[edit] Description
At two meters high at the shoulder, Ancylotherium was relatively large, and was built rather like a goat. Like other chalicotheres, it had long forelimbs and short hind limbs. However, unlike most other chalicotheres, it did not walk on its knuckles. It was similar to the North American genus Moropus.
Ancylotherium's habitat was the savannahs of East and South Africa. As an herbivore, it was designed to browse on vegetation on the trees in the grassy savannahs of Africa.
Ancylotherium's closest relatives are the other perissodactyls, or "odd-toed" ungulates, including the extinct brontotheres and modern-day mammals such as horses, tapirs, and rhinos.
[edit] Fossils
Fossil remains of Ancylotherium have been found at many of the hominid fossil sites in East and South Africa, including sites in Laetoli, Olduvai and Omo.
[edit] See also
- Moropus (a North American chalicothere)
