Merychyus elegans Leidy 1858 (oreodont)

Mammalia - Artiodactyla - Merycoidodontidae

Synonyms: Merychyus elegans paniensis Loomis 1924, Merychyus paniensis Loomis 1924

Full reference: J. Leidy. 1858. Notice of Remains of Extinct Vertebrata, from the Valley of the Niobrara River, Collected during the Exploring Expedition of 1857, in Nebraska, under the Command of Lieut. G. K. Warren, U. S. Top. Eng., by Dr. F. V. Hayden, Geologist to the Expedition. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 10:15-89

Belongs to Merychyus according to M. S. Stevens et al. 2023

See also Cope 1884, Douglass 1906, Hay 1902, Kelly and Lander 1988, Lander 1998, Leidy 1858, Leidy 1873, Loomis 1924, Morgan et al. 2009, Schultz and Falkenbach 1947, Scott and Osborn 1890, Stevens and Stevens 2007 and Thorpe 1937

Sister taxa: Merychyus (Metoreodon), Merychyus arenarum, Merychyus calaminthus, Merychyus minimus, Merychyus relictus, Merychyus verrucomalus

Type specimens:

  • Merychyus elegans: ANSP 11290, USNM 121, ANSP 11289, a partial skull. Its type locality is Martin Canyon Quarry A, which is in a Hemingfordian channel horizon in the Pawnee Creek Formation of Colorado.
  • Merychyus paniensis: AMNH 9047, a partial skeleton (Right ramus with I1(alv.)-Ma (P, rt.) (P1 large), partial humerus, radius, partial ulna, partial tibia, and manus and pes elements.).

Ecology: ground dwelling herbivore

Distribution:

• Miocene of Mexico (1 collection), United States (29: California, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, Wyoming)

• Harrisonian of United States (1: Nebraska)

• Arikareean of United States (1: California)

Total: 32 collections each including a single occurrence

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Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.


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