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Desmatippus avus

Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae

Taxonomy
Protohippus avus was named by Marsh (1874). Its type specimen is YPM 11281, a mandible (portions of both lower jaws, the right bearing P2-4, m1-2, the left P2-4 and m1. There are also nine upper molar and premolar teeth, chiefly of the left side, a), and it is a 3D body fossil.

It was recombined as Merychippus avus by Hay (1902) and Trouessart (1905); it was recombined as Parahippus avus by Gidley (1907), Osborn (1918), Hay (1930), Schlaikjer (1937), Stirton (1940) and Downs (1956); it was recombined as Desmatippus avus by Tedford et al. (1987), Fremd (1994) and MacFadden (1998).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1874Protohippus avus Marsh p. 253
1874Anchippus brevidens Marsh p. 254
1902Anchippus brevidens Hay p. 615
1902Merychippus avus Hay p. 616
1904Parahippus brevidens Gidley p. 192
1905Merychippus avus Trouessart
1906Parahippus brevidens Gidley p. 388
1907Parahippus avus Gidley
1907Parahippus brevidens Gidley p. 896
1907Parahippus brevidens Merriam and Sinclair
1918Parahippus avus Osborn p. 87 figs. Plates 6.7, 8.6,9,10, 9.4. Text Figs. 64, 65
1918Parahippus brevidens Osborn p. 89 figs. Plate 8.11. Text Fig. 66
1930Parahippus avus Hay
1930Parahippus brevidens Hay
1935Parahippus brevidens Bode p. 47
1937Parahippus avus Schlaikjer p. 272
1937Parahippus brevidens Schlaikjer p. 272
1940Parahippus avus Stirton p. 177
1940Parahippus brevidens Stirton p. 177
1956Parahippus avus Downs
1987Desmatippus avus Tedford et al.
1994Desmatippus avus Fremd
1998Desmatippus avus MacFadden

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
RankNameAuthor
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Panperissodactyla
superorderPerissodactylamorpha
orderPerissodactyla()
superfamilyEquoidea
familyEquidae
subfamilyAnchitheriinae()
genusDesmatippus
speciesavus()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Desmatippus avus Marsh 1874
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Invalid names: Anchippus brevidens Marsh 1874 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
H. F. Osborn 1918 (Parahippus brevidens)(Marsh, 1874, Osborn, 1918) (1) Antero-median lobe [protoconule] forwardly placed, hence its worn
surface is not in the same line with that of the antero-internallobe (protocone]; (2) posterior crescentoid tubercle [meta- ·conule] isolated, wearing into an ear-shaped lobe, inclosing a pit [postfossette] with cement; (3) molar crowns unusually short [subhypsodont] even when unworn; (4) enamel of crown and of ectoloph [m3] covered with cement; (5) outer lobes [paracone and metacone] with only a faint indication of the median ridge and their concave surfaces; (6) the buttresses [para-, meso-, and metastyles] enclosing these faces are prominent; (7) metaloph ptychoid on both sides; (8) m3 small; (9) metaloph at an early stage of wear uniting with hypocone and not with hypostyle.
H. F. Osborn 1918(Marsh, p. 254) "The molar teeth have very short crowns, and are inserted by distinct fangs. The enamel is covered with a thick coat of cement. The molars are considerably worn, and the pattern of the enamel thus produced nearly resembles that in the corresponding teeth of Anchitherium, with which the present teeth agree, also, in form and arrangement....The outer concavities of the external lobes are without any median elevation. The posterior inner cone is larger than the in front. . All the lower molars have an outer basal ridge."
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialsubc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: ground dwellingf
Diet: browserf
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:09
Modified: 2005-08-31 16:55:50
Source: f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Nowak 1991, Hendy et al. 2009, Ji et al. 2002, Carroll 1988, Lillegraven 1979

Age range: Barstovian or 16.30000 to 12.50000 Ma

Collections (14 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Miocene23.03 - 5.333USA (Nevada) Parahippus avus (18922)
Miocene23.03 - 5.333USA (Oregon) Desmatippus avus (18993 18994 18995 19025)
Late/Upper Hemingfordian - Barstovian20.43 - 12.5USA (California) Parahippus brevidens (237752)
Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (Nevada) Parahippus avus (19103)
Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (California) Parahippus brevidens (19460)
Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (Oregon) Parahippus avus (18809 19018 19019 19027 19092)
Early/Lower Barstovian - early Late Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (California) Desmatippus avus (156738)