Perchoerus Explained

Perchoerus is an extinct genus of suine from the Eocene and Oligocene of North America. Three species are known.^{[1] [2]} While often considered to be a peccary, other studies have recovered it to be a basal suine outside of either peccaries or Suidae.^[3] The oldest known species of Perchoerus is P. minor, which was only the size of a house cat. It is known from skull and tooth material.The later P. nanus of the Orellan grew larger and is known from a skull and lower jaw. The latest and largest species was P. probus of the Oligocene (32-30 mya). It was much larger (about as big as living peccaries) and known from more remains than the other species.^[4]

Palaeoecology

Low δ¹³C values from the teeth of P. probus suggest that it was an inhabitant of dense riparian habitats.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Book: Prothero . Donald R. . THE SYSTEMATICS OF NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES (MAMMALIA: ARTIODACTYLA: TAYASSUIDAE) By · 2021 . 2021 . New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science . 6–8.
2. Prothero . Donald R. . THE EARLY EVOLUTION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PECCARIES . Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin . 2009 . 65 . 509–542.
3. Parisi Dutra . Rodrigo . Casali . Daniel de Melo . Missagia . Rafaela Velloso . Gasparini . Germán Mariano . Perini . Fernando Araujo . Cozzuol . Mario Alberto . 2016-09-13 . Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . 24 . 3 . 345–358 . 10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8 . 1064-7554. 11336/54840 . free .
4. Book: Prothero . Donald R. . Williams . Mary Persis . The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals . 2016 . Princeton University Press . 9781400884452 . 157–158.
5. Boardman . Grant S. . Secord . Ross . 1 April 2013 . Stable isotope paleoecology of White River ungulates during the Eocene–Oligocene climate transition in northwestern Nebraska . . en . 375 . 38–49 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.02.010 . 17 November 2024 . Elsevier Science Direct.