Mylohyus

Mylohyus
Temporal range: Pliocene - Early Holocene, 5–0.009Ma
↓
M. nasutus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tayassuidae
Genus: †Mylohyus
Leidy, 1860
Species
  • M. elmorei
  • M. floridanus
  • M. fossilis
  • M. gidleyi
  • M. nasutus (long-nosed peccary)

Mylohyus is an extinct genus of peccary found in North and Central America. It evolved in the Pliocene and its extinction is probably as recent as 9,000 years ago. It would have been familiar with early humans.

Six species were known, the most famous being Mylohyus nasutus, also known as the long-nosed peccary. The genus was slightly larger-bodied than any modern peccaries, with an estimated mass of 68 kg (150 lb).[1]

Sources

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