Australocamelus

Australocamelus
Temporal range: Miocene
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Suborder: Ruminantia
Family: Camelidae
Genus: Australocamelus
Patton (1969)
Species
  • A. orarius

Australocamelus is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore the family Camelidae, endemic to North America during the Miocene 16.3—13.6 mya existing for approximately 2.7 million years.[1]

Taxonomy

Australocamelus was named by Patton (1969). Its type is Australocamelus orarius. It was synonymized subjectively with Oxydactylus by Tedford et al. (1987). It was assigned to Camelidae by Patton (1969), Tedford and Barghoorn (1993) and Honey et al. (1998).[2][3]

Morphology

A single specimen was examined for estimated body mass by M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist. The specimen was estimated to weigh 146.8 kg (320 lb).[4]

References

  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Australocamelus, basic info
  2. ^ R. H. Tedford, T. Galusha, M. F. Skinner, B. E. Taylor, R. W. Fields, J. R. Macdonald, J. M. Rensberger, S. D. Webb, and D. P. Whistler. 1987. Faunal succession and biochronology of the Arikareean through Hemphillian interval (late Oligocene through earliest Pliocene epochs) in North America. In M. O. Woodburne (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Geochronology and Biostratigraphy 153-210
  3. ^ J. G. Honey, J. A. Harrison, D. R. Prothero and M. S. Stevens. 1998. Camelidae. In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America 1:439-462
  4. ^ M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis, and P. Palmqvist. 2006. Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression. Journal of Zoology 270(1):90-101