''Hyrachyus'' (from '' Hyrax'' and grc, ὗς "pig") is an extinct

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 ...

perissodactyl Odd-toed ungulates, mammals which constitute the taxonomic order Perissodactyla (, ), are animals—ungulates—who have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three (rhinoceroses and tapirs, with tapirs still using four toes on the front legs) o ...

mammal that lived in

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'', " ...

Europe, North America, and Asia. Its remains have also been found in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. It is closely related to ''

Lophiodon ''Lophiodon'' (from el, λόφος , 'crest' and el, ὀδούς 'tooth') is an extinct genus of mammal related to chalicotheres. It lived in Eocene Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own r ...

''.Hayden, F.V
''Report of the United States Geological Survey of the Territories'', Volume III
(1883)

Description

The 1.5-m-long beast was related to palaeotheres, and suspected to be the ancestor of modern

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inh ...

s and

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

es. Physically, it would have looked very similar to modern tapirs, although it probably lacked the tapir's characteristic proboscis. Its teeth, however, resembled those of a rhinoceros, supporting the idea of its relationship with that group.

References

Eocene odd-toed ungulates Transitional fossils Paleogene mammals of Asia Paleogene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1871 Paleogene mammals of North America Paleogene Jamaica Fossils of Jamaica {{paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub