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Merychippus insignis
Taxonomy
Merychippus insignis was named by Leidy (1856) [genotype; also said to be 1857]. It is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is South Bijou Hill, which is in a Barstovian terrestrial claystone in the Fort Randall Formation of South Dakota. It is the type species of Merychippus.
It was recombined as Protohippus insignis by Cope (1874); it was synonymized subjectively with Protohippus medius by Cope (1893); it was recombined as Protohippus (Merychippus) insignis by Scott (1895); it was recombined as Merychippus (Merychippus) insignis by Stirton (1940).
It was recombined as Protohippus insignis by Cope (1874); it was synonymized subjectively with Protohippus medius by Cope (1893); it was recombined as Protohippus (Merychippus) insignis by Scott (1895); it was recombined as Merychippus (Merychippus) insignis by Stirton (1940).
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1856 | Merychippus insignis Leidy p. 311 |
| 1857 | Merychippus insignis Leidy p. 89 |
| 1874 | Hippotherium paniense Cope |
| 1874 | Protohippus insignis Cope p. 13 |
| 1880 | Merychippus insignis Leidy |
| 1889 | Hippotherium paniense Cope p. 447 |
| 1894 | Hippotherium paniense Cope |
| 1895 | Protohippus (Merychippus) insignis Scott p. 59 |
| 1896 | Hipparion paniensis Roger |
| 1898 | Merychippus insignis Osborn |
| 1898 | Hipparion paniensis Trouessart |
| 1899 | Hipparion paniensis Matthew |
| 1902 | Merychippus insignis Hay p. 616 |
| 1902 | Hipparion paniense Hay p. 620 |
| 1905 | Merychippus insignis Trouessart |
| 1907 | Merychippus insignis Gidley |
| 1907 | Merychippus paniensis Gidley p. 890 |
| 1908 | Merychippus insignis Douglass p. 275 |
| 1908 | Merychippus insignis Gidley |
| 1909 | Merychippus paniensis Matthew |
| 1909 | Merychippus insignis Matthew and Cook |
| 1916 | Merychippus insignis Sellards |
| 1918 | Merychippus insignis Matthew |
| 1918 | Merychippus paniensis Osborn p. 109 figs. Plates 11.2, 16.4,5,6, 18.1,5, 25.5, 34.1,2, 43.2, 48.2, 50.2,6, 53.2. Text Fig. 83 |
| 1918 | Merychippus insignis Osborn p. 122 figs. Plates 17.5, 25.3. T ext Fig. 97 |
| 1930 | Merychippus insignis Hay |
| 1930 | Merychippus paniensis Hay |
| 1940 | Merychippus (Merychippus) insignis Stirton p. 181 |
| 1940 | Merychippus (Merychippus) paniensis Stirton p. 181 |
| 1942 | Merychippus paniensis Henshaw |
| 1953 | Merychippus paniensis Galbreath |
| 1995 | Merychippus insignis Kelly p. 25 |
| 1998 | Merychippus insignis MacFadden p. 547 |
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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.
†Merychippus insignis Leidy 1856
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Invalid names: Merychippus paniensis Cope 1874 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| H. F. Osborn 1918 (Merychippus paniensis) | (Cope, 1874, Osborn, 1918) (1) Enamel borders of hypostyle, of metaloph, and crochet region ptychoid;
(2) protocone separate in incompletely worn crown; (3) marked curvature of the crown; (4) crown of intermediate length, hypsodont. Cope considered this animal an hipparion. Gidley (1907) considered the species not well characterized. Matthew (1913) refers to it a number of characteristic specimens from the Pawnee Creek formation, namely, parts of skull and jaws, fore and hind limbs and feet, Amer. Mus. 9382; also Amer. Mus. 9039, 9093, 9413, 9460, and adds the following characters (1913): (1) size median, same as M. sejunctus; (2) hypsodonty as in M. sejundus; (3) protocone separate to near base or united half way up crown; (4) protocone typically small, round-oval; (5) pli caballin fo!d well developed; (6) lachrymal fossa deep, abrupt, commencing close to border of orbit; (7) limbs relatively shorter than in M. sejundus, lateral digits more robust; (8) ungual phalanges short and narrow. Matthew (1913) regards it as close to M. isonesus of the Mascall but somewhat more progressive. | |
| H. F. Osborn 1918 | (Leidy, 1857) "The teeth are inserted by distinct fangs; and the crowns strikingly resemble the true
molars of ruminants. There are four demiconoidallobes holding the same relationship with one another as in the latter, especially as in the Deer. The outer lobes have almost the exact form as in the true molars of Oreodon. The inner lobes resemble those of ruminants, but are complicated with accessory folds as in the horse. No cementum fills up the inter- spaces of the lobes nor does it appear to have existed as part of the structure of these teeth." |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subf = subfamily, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum | |||||
| References: Ji et al. 2002, MacFadden 1998, Nowak 1991, Lillegraven 1979, Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988 | |||||
Age range: base of the Barstovian to the top of the Clarendonian or 16.30000 to 9.40000 Ma
Collections (21 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hemingfordian | USA (Colorado) | Merychippus paniensis (17908) | |
| Hemingfordian | USA (Wyoming) | Merychippus insignis (17957) | |
| Barstovian | USA (South Dakota) | Merychippus insignis (type locality: 18397) | |
| Barstovian | USA (Nebraska) | Merychippus insignis (18090 18109 18192 18206 18208 18248 18261 18284 18442 18454) | |
| Early/Lower Barstovian | USA (Nebraska) | Merychippus insignis (17903 17904 17905 17955 17972 18019) | |
| Early/Lower Barstovian | USA (Texas) | Merychippus insignis (18665) | |
| Clarendonian | USA (Nebraska) | Merychippus insignis (18301) |