Pachyrukhos

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Pachyrukhos
Fossil range: Late Oligocene to Mid Miocene
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Notoungulata
Suborder: Hegetotheria
Family: Hegetotheriidae
Genus: Pachyrukhos

Pachyrukhos is an extinct genus of mammal.

It was about 30 cm (1 ft) long and closely resembled a rabbit, possessing a short tail and long hind feet. Pachyrukhos was probably also able to hop, and it had a rabbit-like skull with teeth adapted for eating nuts and tough plants. Its hearing was very good, and it probably had large ears. All these similarities are not very surprising as Pachyrukhos filled the ecological niche of rabbits in South America.