Cambaytherium
| Cambaytherium Temporal range: Eocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla[1] |
| Family: | Cambaytheriidae |
| Genus: | Cambaytherium Bajpai et al., 2005 |
| Species | |
| |
Cambaytherium is an extinct placental mammal genus of the family Cambaytheriidae.[2] Known from the Eocene whose fossils were found in an open pit coal mine located in Gujarat, India.[3]
Description
Cambaytherium was the size of a pig and likely weighed 45 to 75 pounds. Based on analysis of shapes and surfaces of the long bones of its limbs, Cambaytherium also probably had five finger- or toe-like bones, although Rose hesitated at calling them digits. That number was reduced in perissodactyls as they developed modern hooves.[3]
Taxonomy
Cambaytherium is considered to be close to the ancestry of Perissodactyla, the odd-toed ungulates. It retains features later lost among its sister mammals, the perissodactyls, which includes tapirs, rhinoceroses, and horses. The presence of the sister group of perissodactyls in western India near or before the time of its collision with Asia, suggests that Perissodactyla may have originated on the Indian Plate during its final drift toward Asia.[3]
References
- ↑ Rose, K. D.; Holbrook, L. T.; Rana, R. S.; Kumar, K.; Jones, K. E.; Ahrens, H. E.; Missiaen, P.; Sahni, A.; Smith, T. (20 November 2014). "Early Eocene fossils suggest that the mammalian order Perissodactyla originated in India". Nature Communications. 5 (5570). doi:10.1038/ncomms6570.
- ↑ S. Bajpai; V. V. Kapur; D. P. Das; B. N. Tiwari; N. Saravanan; R. Sharma (2005). "Early Eocene land mammals from Vastan Lignite Mine, District Surat (Gujarat), Western India". Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India. 50 (1): 101–113.
- 1 2 3 Mohan, Geoffrey (20 November 2014). "Strange rhino-horse wandered ancient India". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 November 2014.