Hipparionini Explained

Hipparionini is a tribe of three-toed horses in the subfamily Equinae. They had body forms similar to modern equines, with high-crowned teeth. They first appeared in North America during the Early Miocene around 17 million years ago,^[1] before migrating into the Old World around 11.4-11.0 million years ago.^[2] The youngest species date to the Early Pleistocene.^[3]

Ecology

In the Old World hipparionines were initially browsers and mixed feeders (both browsing and grazing), over time there was increasing proportion of pure grazers, though the groups ecology remained diverse, with mixed feeding being the dominant ecology during the Pliocene.

Taxonomy

North American genera:

• "Hipparion" (distinct from Old World species assigned to this genus)
• Neohipparion
• Pseudhipparion
• Nannippus
• Cormohipparion

Old World genera: (widely thought to descend from Cormohipparion)

• Hipparion sensu stricto
• Hippotherium
• Cremohipparion
• Sivalhippus
• Eurygnathohippus
• Plesiohipparion
• Proboscidipparion
• Shanxihippus

Notes and References

1. Janis . Christine M. . Bernor . Raymond L. . 2019-04-12 . The Evolution of Equid Monodactyly: A Review Including a New Hypothesis . Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution . 7 . 10.3389/fevo.2019.00119 . 2296-701X . free . 1983/ede09e37-96f7-4baf-aec5-1bb7766a04e7 . free .
2. Bernor . Raymond L. . Kaya . Ferhat . Kaakinen . Anu . Saarinen . Juha . Fortelius . Mikael . October 2021 . Old world hipparion evolution, biogeography, climatology and ecology . Earth-Science Reviews . en . 221 . 103784 . 10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103784. free . 2021ESRv..22103784B .
3. Cirilli . Omar . Pandolfi . Luca . Alba . David M. . Madurell-Malapeira . Joan . Bukhsianidze . Maia . Kordos . Laszlo . Lordkipanidze . David . Rook . Lorenzo . Bernor . Raymond L. . April 2023 . The last Plio-Pleistocene hipparions of Western Eurasia. A review with remarks on their taxonomy, paleobiogeography and evolution . Quaternary Science Reviews . en . 306 . 107976 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.107976. 257594449 . free . 2023QSRv..30607976C .