Merycodus Explained

Merycodus is an extinct genus of the artiodactyl family Antilocapridae.[1] Fossils of this genus have been found in the Santa Fe Group of New Mexico.[2]

Taxonomy

Merycodus has had a confusing taxonomic history. The closely related Meryceros and Submeryceros are generally regarded as synonymous with Merycodus.[3] One described species known as Merycodus grandis has now been reclassified as a species of Prosynthetoceras.[4] Another former species, M. furcatus is now placed in Cosoryx.

Description

Merycodus had relatively short horn shafts with tines of nearly equal size that were about as long as the shaft. Species traditionally included in Meryceros had horns that were generally larger and more laterally compressed.[5]

References

  1. Web site: Archived copy . 2011-09-05 . 2012-09-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120919040803/http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/handle/2246/1513//v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/bul/B020a07.pdf?sequence=1 . dead .
  2. Galusha . Ted . Blick . John C. . Stratigraphy of the Santa Fe Group, New Mexico . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 1971 . 144 . 1 . 13 May 2020.
  3. Book: Prothero . Donald R. . The Evolution of Artiodactyls . 2007 . Johns Hopkins University Press . 9780801887352 . 232.
  4. Book: The Texas Journal of Science: Volume 19 . 1967 . Texas Academy of Science..
  5. Book: Janis . Kathleen M. . Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Volume 1, Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate Like Mammals . 1998 . Cambridge University Press . 496.

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