Blastomeryx
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Blastomeryx Fossil range: Early Miocene to Late Pliocene |
||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Species | ||||||||||||||
|
Blastomeryx is an extinct genus of musk deer.
It was 75 cm (2 ft 6 in) long and looked like a modern chevrotain. Its canines were elongated into tusks which it used to uproot plants and fend off predators. While most species of Blastomeryx (as well as modern musk deer) lacked antlers, a Late Miocene species had bony knobs on its skull which would probably have become horns had Blastomeryx not gone extinct.