Juxia

Juxia is an extinct genus of indricothere, a group of herbivorous mammals that are part of the odd-toed ungulate family tree of rhinoceros and tapirs. The type species is Juxia sharamurenense, named by Chow and Chiu in 1964. Juxia was around the size of a horse. It lived in Asia during the upper Eocene.[2]

Skull and neck of a mounted specimen of Juxia sharamurenense, Paleozoological Museum of China

Juxia
Mounted skeleton, Inner Mongolia Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Superfamily: Rhinocerotoidea
Family: †Hyracodontidae
Subfamily: †Indricotheriinae
Genus: †Juxia
Chow & Chiu, 1964
Type species
†Juxia sharamurenense
Chow & Chiu, 1964
Species
  • †J. sharamurenense Chow & Chiu, 1964
  • †J. borissiaki (Beliajeva, 1959)
Synonyms[1]
  • Imequinincisoria Wang, 1976

As an early indricothere, Juxia had a relatively light body, held by elongated long legs and small skull firmly attached to a relatively long neck. Based on its triangular like teeth and sharp protruding incisors, Juxia was probably a strict browser, feeding on ferns and leaves on branches where most herbivorous mammals couldn't reach. In terms of habitat, Juxia lived in densely lush and tropical forests of what is now China. Though a few skeletons have been found, it is unclear whether this early indricothere was permanently solitary or lived in small social groups, possibly harems. Based on its morphology, Juxia's long legs probably enabled it to run relatively fast for a limited duration. This was probably a defense mechanism against early mammalian predators.[3]

References
  1. Lucas, S.G.; Sobus, J.C. (1989). "The Systematics of Indricotheres". In Prothero, David R.; Schoch, Robert M. (eds.). The Evolution of Perissodactyls. Oxford University Press. pp. 358–378. ISBN 978-0-19-506039-3. OCLC 19268080.
  2. Chow Minchen and Chiu Chan-Siang: An Eocene giant rhinoceros. Vertebrata PalAsiatica, 1964 (8), 1964, S. 264–268
  3. Prothero, D. (2013). Rhinoceros Giants: The Palaeobiology of Indricotheres. Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-00819-0.


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