''Pseudoprotoceras'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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

Protoceratidae Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene at around 46.2—4.9 Mya, existing for about 41 million years. Classification Protoceratidae was ...

, endemic to central

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It lived during the Late

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

37.2—33.9 Ma, existing for approximately . ''Pseudoprotoceras'' resembled hornlessEmry, R. J., and J. E. Storer. 1981. The hornless protoceratid ''Pseudoprotoceras'' (Tylopoda: Artiodactyla) in the early Oligocene of Saskatchewan and Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1:101-110

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

, but were more closely related to

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

ids. Body mass was similar to other Eocene protoceratids such as ''

Heteromeryx ''Heteromeryx'' is an extinct genus of artiodactyl, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Eocene 37.2—33.9 Ma, existing for approximately . They resembled deer, but were more closely related to cam ...

'' and ''

Poabromylus ''Poabromylus'' is an extinct genus of small Artiodactyla, artiodactyl, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Eocene 40.4—33.9 Annum, Ma, existing for approximately . They resembled deer but were mor ...

'' yet greater than '' Leptotragulus'' and '' Leptoreodon''. Miocene members were apparently larger as well.

References

*McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. ''Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level.'' Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. Eocene even-toed ungulates Bartonian extinctions Eocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1934 Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub