Xenorhinotherium
Encyclopedia
Xenorhinotherium an extinct
Brazil
ian genus in the family Macraucheniidae
, was related to Macrauchenia patachonica of Patagonia
.
, where it was found.
, or trunk. Xenorhinotherium had three-toed feet like its relatives did. It also had other features atypical of most mammals, which has made it difficult for paleontologists to envision what this animal would have looked like. This animal was an herbivore
and could measure up to five meters in length, making this animal approximately three meters in height.
Epoch
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Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian genus in the family Macraucheniidae
Macraucheniidae
Macraucheniidae is a family in the Litopterna order of extinct South American ungulates. The recessed nasal bones of their skulls suggest that they may have had a small proboscis, or trunk. Their hooves were similar to those of rhinoceroses today, with a simple ankle joint and three digits on each...
, was related to Macrauchenia patachonica of Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
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Name
Some authors place X. bahiensis in the genus Macrauchenia, while still others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. Xenorhinotherium bahiensis is the only macraucheniid to be found in Brazil. The name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiensis refers to the Brazilian state of BahiaBahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, where it was found.
Characteristics
Like other macraucheniids, it had a small proboscisProboscis
A proboscis is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In simpler terms, a proboscis is the straw-like mouth found in several varieties of species.-Etymology:...
, or trunk. Xenorhinotherium had three-toed feet like its relatives did. It also had other features atypical of most mammals, which has made it difficult for paleontologists to envision what this animal would have looked like. This animal was an herbivore
Herbivore
Herbivores are organisms that are anatomically and physiologically adapted to eat plant-based foods. Herbivory is a form of consumption in which an organism principally eats autotrophs such as plants, algae and photosynthesizing bacteria. More generally, organisms that feed on autotrophs in...
and could measure up to five meters in length, making this animal approximately three meters in height.
Era and Location
Xenorhinotherium lived during the PleistocenePleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
Epoch
Epoch (geology)
An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...
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