''Mylohyus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

peccary Peccaries (also javelinas or skunk pigs) are pig-like ungulates of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. Peccari ...

found in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. It first

evolved Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...

during the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

and became extinct at the end of the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

, around 12,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction. Six species were known, the most famous being ''Mylohyus nasutus'', also known as the long-nosed peccary. It went extinct at the end of the Rancholabrean North American Land Mammal Age. The genus was slightly larger-bodied than any modern peccaries, with an estimated mass of . Isotope and anatomical studies have suggested that the diet of ''Mylohyus'' varied over geological time, from being primarily a C3 browser during the

Blancan The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,806,000 years BP, a period of .C4 vegetation during the

Irvingtonian The Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), spanning from 1.8 million – 250,000 years Before Present, BP.

, with a relatively even mixture of C3 and C4 during the Rancholabrean. Suggestions have been made that it was frugivorous and also consumed hard browse like twigs. ''Mylohyus'' was able to coexist with close phylogenetic relatives because of efficient

niche partitioning In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for e ...

between it and other genera of peccaries.

Description

The long-nosed peccary was about in height and in weight. It had an elongated face, long, thin legs and

dewclaw A dewclaw is a digit – vestigial in some animals – on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles (including some extinct orders, like certain theropods). It commonly grows higher on the leg than the rest of the foot, such that in di ...

Habitat and distribution

During the last glacial, long-nosed peccaries, ''sensu lato'', were distributed throughout southeastern North America with concentrations in

Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Most fossil localities containing this species are found in the southern and south-eastern U.S., from west

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to Florida, and north to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. ''Mylohyus nasutus'', if considered to be a different species than '' M. fossilis'', occupied the western part of this range, but their classification as separate species is disputed. According to Lundelius, these species or forms co-occur in the Cumberland Cave deposits in Maryland.

Ecology and behavior

Unlike the flat-headed peccary, '' Platygonus compressus'', the long-nosed peccary was probably a solitary animal and did not frequent caves.

Sources

External links

Explore the Ice Age Midwest - Long-nosed PeccaryZipcodezoo - ''Mylohyus'' (Genus)
Pliocene Artiodactyla Pliocene mammals of North America Pleistocene Artiodactyla Pleistocene mammals of North America Pliocene first appearances Holocene extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1869 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub