Platygonus

Platygonus is an extinct genus of herbivorous peccary of the family Tayassuidae, endemic to North America from the Miocene through Pleistocene epochs (10.3 mya—11,000 years ago), existing for approximately 10.289 million years.^[1]

Platygonus was a gregarious animal and, like modern peccaries, possibly traveled in packs. It ranged from southern Canada to Mexico and from California to Pennsylvania. Stratigraphically, it occurs throughout the Pleistocene (Calabrian), and as early as the Blancan in the Gelasian of the Pliocene.

Taxonomy

Platygonus was named by Leconte (1848). It was assigned to Tayassuidae by Le Conte (1848), Hoare et al. (1964) and Carroll (1988).

Morphology

Platygonus was larger than modern peccaries, at around 1 metre (3.3 ft) in body length, and had long legs, allowing it to run well. It also had a pig-like snout and long, carnivore-like tusks which were probably used to fend off predators.^[2] It had a complex digestive system, similar to that of a modern ruminant.

Body mass

Four specimens were examined by M. Mendoza for body mass with the following estimations on weight:

• Specimen 1: 133.1 kg (290 lb)
• Specimen 2: 162 kg (360 lb)
• Specimen 3: 131 kg (290 lb)
• Specimen 4: 116.6 kg (260 lb)^[3]

References

• Wagner, George (1903) "Observations on Platygonus Compressus Leconte" The Journal of Geology University of Chicago. Dept. of Geology and Paleontology, University of Chicago Press. Journals Division, 11: pp. 777-782;
• Hoare, Richard D. et al. (May 1964) "Pleistocene Peccary Platygonus Compressus Leconte from Sandusky County, Ohio" The Ohio Journal of Science 64(3): pp. 207-214;
• Ray, Clayton E.; Denny, Charles S. and Rubin, Meyer (January 1970) "A peccary, Platygonus Compressus LeConte, from drift of Wisconsian age in Northern Pennsylvania" The American Journal of Science Yale University 268: pp.78-94;
• Wilson, Ronald C.; Guilday, John E. and Branstetter, John A. (October 1975) "Extinct Peccary (Platygonus compressus LeConte) From a Central Kentucky Cave" The NSS Bulletin 37(4): pp. 83-87;
• Kurtén, Björn; and Anderson, Elaine (1980) Pleistocene Mammals of North America Columbia University Press, New York ISBN 0-231-03733-3 ;
• Murray, Lyndon K. et al. (September 2005) "Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Southern Colorado Plateau, Navajo County, Arizona" The Southwestern Naturalist 50(3): pp. 363–374;