''Palaeomeryx'' 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 ...
of
Artiodactyla
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 ...
, of the family
Palaeomerycidae, endemic to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
from the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
epoch, 16.9 – 7.25
Ma, existing for approximately .
Taxonomy
''Palaeomeryx'' was named by von Meyer (1834). It is the type genus of
Palaeomerycidae,
Palaeomerycinae
The Palaeomerycidae are an extinct family of ruminants in the order Artiodactyla. Palaeomerycids lived in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia from 33 to 4.9 million years ago (from the Late Eocene to Pliocene epochs), existing for about 28 m ...
. It was assigned to Palaeomerycidae by Carroll (1988) and Sach and Heizmann (2001); and to Palaeomerycinae by Prothero and Liter (2007).
[D. R. Prothero and M. R. Liter. 2007. Family Palaeomerycidae. in D. R. Prothero and S. Foss (eds.), The Evolution of Artiodactyls 241-248]
Fossil distribution
*Amor,
Leiria, Portugal
Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...
*Level C1, Quarry Quebra Bilhas,
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...
*Buñol,
Valencia, Spain
*Lufeng,
Yunnan Province
Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
,
China
*Krivoy Rog,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
References
Palaeomerycidae
Miocene even-toed ungulates
Tortonian extinctions
Miocene mammals of Europe
Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera
Burdigalian first appearances
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