| Mixotoxodon Temporal range: ?early to late Pleistocene[1] |
|
|---|---|
| Mixotoxodon larensis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Notoungulata |
| Family: | †Toxodontidae |
| Subfamily: | †Haplodontheriinae |
| Genus: | †Mixotoxodon van Frank, 1957 |
| Species: | †M. larensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Mixotoxodon larensis van Frank, 1957 |
|
Mixotoxodon ("mixture Toxodon") is an extinct genus of notoungulate of the family Toxodontidae which inhabited South America during the Pleistocene living from 1.8—0.30 Ma and existed for approximately 1.5 million years.[2]
Mixotoxodon is known from a single species M. larensis. Mixotoxodon is the only notoungulate known to have migrated out of South America during the Great American Interchange. Its fossils have been found in northern South America, in Central America[3] and in Veracruz and Michoacán, Mexico (with a possible find in Tamaulipas).[4] The genus was also one of the last surviving notoungulates, along with related genera such as the better-known Toxodon. The name refers to the fact that Mixotoxodon combines characteristics typical of different toxodontid subfamilies.[5]