Eotitanops

Eotitanops ('dawn titan-face') is an extinct genus of brontothere native to North America and Asia.

Eotitanops
Temporal range: Early Eocene–Mid Eocene
Eotitanops borealis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: †Brontotheriidae
Genus: †Eotitanops
Osborn, 1907
Species
  • E. borealis
  • E. dayi
  • E. minimus
  • E. pakistanensis[1]

Eotitanops is the earliest known genus of brontothere. While brontotheres generally known as very large animals, Eotitanops was only 45 centimetres (1.48 ft) tall at the shoulder. It probably resembled a larger, bulkier version of its contemporary, the horse-like palaeothere Hyracotherium. Like Hyracotherium, it ate leaves and had five-toed front legs and three-toed hind legs.[2]

Model of Eotitanops (bottom) in comparison with various species of Megacerops

References
  1. Pieter Missiaen; Gregg F. Gunnell & Philip D. Gingerich (2011). "New Brontotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Early and Middle Eocene of Pakistan with Implications for Mammalian Paleobiogeography". Journal of Paleontology. 85 (4): 665–677. doi:10.1666/10-087.1.
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 258. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.


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