''Anthracokeryx'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of extinct

artiodactyl The even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla , ) are ungulates—hoofed animals—which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes: the third and fourth. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing poster ...

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...

mammal belonging to

Anthracotheriidae Anthracotheriidae is a paraphyletic family of extinct, hippopotamus-like artiodactyl ungulates related to hippopotamuses and whales. The oldest genus, ''Elomeryx'', first appeared during the middle Eocene in Asia. They thrived in Africa and Eura ...

that lived in Asia during the middle to late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

Taxonomy

''Anthracokeryx'' was treated as a junior synonym of ''

Anthracotherium ''Anthracotherium'' (from el, ἄνθραξ , 'coal' and el, θηρίον 'beast') was a genus of extinct artiodactyl ungulate mammals, characterized by having 44 teeth, with five semi-crescentic cusps on the crowns of the upper molars. The ...

'' by Tsubamoto et al. (2002) based on similarities in dental

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

.Tsubamoto T, Takai M, Egi N, Shigehara N, Tun ST, Aung AK, Soe Aung Naing, Thein T. 2002. The Anthracotheriidae (Mammalia; Artiodactyla) from the Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar) and comments on some other anthracotheres from the Eocene of Asia. Paleontological Research. 6:363–384. However, other authors have rejected the synonymy and recognized ''Anthracokeryx'' as a distinct form in the subfamily

Microbunodontinae The microbunodontines were an extinct subfamily of anthracotheres that were predominately a Paleogene group of Eurasian artiodactyls. The group died out at the end of the Late Miocene. It comprised the genera '' Anthracokeryx'', '' Geniokeryx'' ...

Distribution

Fossils of ''Anthracokeryx'' are known from China,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

References

Anthracotheres Eocene even-toed ungulates Eocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub