Colodon

Colodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene - Early Oligocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: †Helaletidae
Genus: †
Marsh, 1890
Type species
†Colodon occidentalis
Leidy, 1868
Species[1]
  • C. angulatus
  • C. kayi
  • C. occidentalis
  • C. stovalli
  • C. woodi

Colodon is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammals that were related to tapirs of today.[2]

Taxonomy

Species of Colodon were originally placed within the genus Lophiodon but were later found to be distinct.[3]

Description

Colodon had small or absent canines and short, broad cheek teeth. The skull had a greatly enlarged narial incision and greatly reduced nasals. Similarities between the skulls of Colodon and true tapirs suggest it may have had a very small trunk as well.[3]

Colodon first appeared in the Late Eocene and lasted until the Whitneyan.

References

  1. ^ "Fossilworks: Colodon".
  2. ^ L. T. Holbrook. 1999. The Phylogeny and classification of tapiromorph perissodactyls (Mammalia). Cladistics 15(3):331-350
  3. ^ a b Benton, Rachel C. (2015). The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780253016089.


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