Astrapotherium
Astrapotherium magnum
Astrapotherium is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammals that occurred from the upper Oligocene to lower Miocene in South America.
Features
Astrapotherium externally resembled a tapir, but was not closely related with this, but belongs to the South American hoofed mammal of a group that is completely extinct. Astrapotherium had an elongated body with a short neck and was about three feet long. The shoulder height could be 1.4 meters. The head was large, 50-65 cm long, with a short nose, and was equipped with large, staggered to the top of the head nostrils, where probably positioning on a range short proboscis. Upper incisors were missing, the bottom could have bitten against a horn plate in the maxilla. The canines of the upper and lower jaws were pronounced, the maxillary greater than that of the mandible. The two premolars were small, the three molars were from lophodonten type and took from front to back to size.
The front and hind Astrapotherium had five toes. Front he sat only on the toes ( digitigrade ), in the back the whole foot ( plantigrade ).
Way of life
Anatomy and sites of the fossils of Astrapotherium suggest that he was a herbivorous lowland, riparian and swamp dwellers.
Source
- Thomas S. Kemp: The Origin & Evolution of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005. ISBN 0198507615
- Elmer S. Riggs: A skeleton of Astrapotherium. Published 1935 by Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. online at Open Library