Plesippus

Mounted skeleton of Plesippus shoshonensis.

• North America
• Eurasia

Plesippus (composed of Greek: plesio - " almost, approximately", and hippos - "horse" ) is an extinct genus of the horse family ( Equidae). The most famous occurrence of the genus, the Hagerman Fossil Beds, located in what is now the U.S. state of Idaho. The animals found there were originally described under the name Equus simplicidens be today but called Plesippus shoshonensis. The species lived here until around 3.5 million years ago during the Pliocene. With an estimated average body weight of 425 kg Plesippus shoshonensis reached about the size of a modern Arabian horse. Prior to about 2.5 million years ago Plesippus reached from North America and Eurasia Coming. The exact lineage relationships and the relationship with the later of the genus Equus horses are not yet clear.