''Epihippus'' is an extinct genus of the modern

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

family

Equidae Equidae (sometimes known as the horse family) is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, asses, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus '' Equus'', ...

that lived in the

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' ...

, from 46 to 38 million years ago. Hancock Mammal Quarry mural

''Epihippus'' is believed to have evolved from ''

Orohippus ''Orohippus'' (from the Greek , 'mountain' and , 'horse') is an extinct equid that lived in the Eocene (about 50 million years ago). It is believed to have evolved from equids such as ''Eohippus'', as the earliest evidence for ''Orohippus' ...

'', which continued the evolutionary trend of increasingly efficient grinding teeth. ''Epihippus'' had five grinding, low-crowned cheek teeth with well-formed crests. A late species of ''Epihippus'', sometimes referred to as ''Duchesnehippus intermedius'', had teeth similar to

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

equids, although slightly less developed. Epihippus fed on mostly insects, berries, and plant material as a browser and insectivore. Whether ''Duchesnehippus'' was a subgenus of ''Epihippus'' or a distinct genus is disputed. This is an early species of a horse. There are three species: * ''Epihippus gracilis'' * ''Epihippus intermedius'' * ''Epihippus uintensis''

References

Eocene horses Eocene odd-toed ungulates Eocene mammals of North America Paleogene United States Prehistoric placental genera Extinct mammals of North America Eocene genus extinctions Eocene extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1877 {{Paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub