PBDB Taxon

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Merychippus

Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Equidae

Taxonomy

Merychippus was named by Leidy (1856) [also said to be 1857; numerous authors around the turn of the century put the type species in Protohippus, but this ignored priority]. It is considered to be a form taxon. Its type is Merychippus insignis.

It was reranked as Protohippus (Merychippus) by Scott (1895).

It was assigned to Protohippus by Scott (1895); to Protohippinae by Gidley (1907); to Equidae by Leidy (1856), Leidy (1873), Scott (1913), Stirton (1940), Gazin and Collins (1950) and Carroll (1988); to Hipparionini by Quinn (1955) and Kelly (1995); and to Equinae by Hay (1902), Forsten (1975), Prothero and Schoch (1989), MacFadden (1998) and Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca (2006).

Synonyms

Merychippus isonesus secundus was named by Osborn (1918) [named as a subspecies of M. isonesus by Osborn 1918; raised to species level; see also Stirton 1940b]. Its type specimen is AMNH 14179, a partial skeleton (Fragments of upper and lower jaws with most of the teeth and parts of skeleton), and it is a 3D body fossil.

It was recombined as Merychippus secundus by Abel (1928) and Simpson (1930); it was recombined as Merychippus (Protohippus) secundus by Stirton (1940); it was considered a nomen vanum by Skinner et al. (1977); it was considered a nomen dubium by Macdonald (1992).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1856	Merychippus Leidy
1873	Merychippus Leidy p. 322
1895	Protohippus (Merychippus) Scott p. 59
1902	Merychippus Hay p. 616
1907	Merychippus Gidley p. 867
1913	Merychippus Scott p. 290
1918	Merychippus isonesus secundus Osborn p. 105 figs. Plates 13.4, 41.1, 45.1,3, 46.1, 52.1. Text Fig. 79.
1928	Merychippus secundus Abel
1930	Merychippus secundus Simpson p. 166
1940	Merychippus Stirton p. 178
1940	Merychippus (Protohippus) secundus Stirton p. 181
1950	Merychippus Gazin and Collins p. 16
1955	Merychippus Quinn p. 58
1975	Merychippus Forsten p. 22
1988	Merychippus Carroll
1989	Merychippus Prothero and Schoch p. 531
1995	Merychippus Kelly p. 26
1998	Merychippus MacFadden p. 547
2006	Merychippus Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca p. 776

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Panperissodactyla
superorder	Perissodactylamorpha
order	Perissodactyla	()
superfamily	Equoidea
family	Equidae
subfamily	Equinae
genus	Merychippus

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.

G. †Merychippus Leidy 1856

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Subg. †Merychippus (Merychippus) Stirton 1940

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Invalid names: Merychippus (Merychippus) coalingensis Clark 1921 [nomen nudum]

Subg. †Merychippus (Protohippus) Leidy 1858

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†Merychippus (Protohippus) secundus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus brevidontus Bode 1935

†Merychippus calamarius Cope 1875

†Merychippus calamarius stylodontus Merriam 1919

†Merychippus californicus Merriam 1915

†Merychippus coloradense Osborn 1918

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Invalid names: Hipparion sanfondensis Frick 1933 [synonym]

†Merychippus eohipparion Osborn 1918

†Merychippus eoplacidus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus gunteri Simpson 1930

†Merychippus insignis Leidy 1856

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Invalid names: Merychippus paniensis Cope 1874 [synonym]

†Merychippus labrosus Cope 1874

†Merychippus missouriensis Douglass 1908

†Merychippus patruus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus primus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus proparvulus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus quintus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus relictus Cope 1889

†Merychippus republicanus Osborn 1918

†Merychippus sejunctus Cope 1874

†Merychippus seversus Cope 1878

†Merychippus stevensi Dougherty 1940

Invalid names: Merychippus isonesus secundus Osborn 1918 [nomen vanum], Merychippus quartus Osborn 1918 [nomen vanum]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

terrestrialsubc

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

ground dwellingsubf

Diet:

grazersubf

Diet 2:

browsersubf

Reproduction:

viviparoussubc

Created:

2005-08-31 14:56:53

Modified:

2005-08-31 16:56:53

Source: subf = subfamily, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum

References: Lillegraven 1979, Ji et al. 2002, Nowak 1991, MacFadden 1998, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range: base of the Barstovian to the top of the Middle Miocene or 16.30000 to 11.60800 Ma

Collections (127 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Montana)	M. sejunctus (19038)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Florida)	M. brevidontus (18594) M. gunteri (18503) Parahippus leonensis (18515)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	Mexico (Oaxaca)	M. sp. (18727)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Oregon)	M. relictus (18814 18951 18953 18958 19001 19063)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Texas)	M. francisi (18680) M. gunteri (18648 18658 18677) M. perditus (18614)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Colorado)	Neohipparion coloradense, Protohippus labrosus (18310)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (South Dakota)	M. sp. (18393)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (California)	M. stevensi (19295)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Louisiana)	M. sp. (163859)
Miocene	23.03 - 5.333	USA (Nevada)	M. brevidontus, M. californicus, M. gunteri (18922)
Burdigalian	20.44 - 15.97	USA (Maryland)	M. sp. (45493)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Wyoming)	M. insignis (17957) M. primus (18873 19083)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Nebraska)	M. primus (17920 17952 18000 18001) M. quintus (17968)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Florida)	M. gunteri (18561 176936)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Oregon)	M. sp. (212622 212623)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Colorado)	M. eohipparion, M. paniensis, M. sejunctus (17908)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Montana)	M. missouriensis (17885)
Late/Upper Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Florida)	M. gunteri (18512)
Late/Upper Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	USA (Nebraska)	M. primus (17889)
Hemingfordian - Barstovian	20.43 - 12.5	USA (Oregon)	M. relictus (18864)
Hemingfordian - Barstovian	20.43 - 12.5	USA (Texas)	M. gunteri (18688 18691 18695 18704)
Hemingfordian - Barstovian	20.43 - 12.5	USA (California)	M. brevidontus (19201)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Nebraska)	M. insignis (18090 18206 18208 18248 18261 18442 18454) M. insignis, M. republicanus (18192 18284) M. insignis, Neohipparion republicanus (18109) M. sp. (18123)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (South Dakota)	M. insignis (18397) M. sp. (174577)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	Mexico (Oaxaca)	M. sp. (18722 18724)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Colorado)	M. sejunctus (18203)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Louisiana)	M. gunteri (18621 18632) M. sp. (18659)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (New Mexico)	M. calamarius, Neohipparion coloradense (19535) M. sp. (19519) M. sp., Neohipparion coloradense (19287)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Oregon)	M. brevidontus (19017 19019 19020 19056 19092) M. relictus (18839 19010) M. sp. (18808)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (California)	M. brevidontus (19392 160743) M. brevidontus, M. californicus (19460)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Texas)	Equidae indet. (18619 18627) M. gunteri (18607 18608 18620 18637 18646 18650) M. sp. (207493)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Nevada)	M. brevidontus, M. californicus (19088 19103) M. calamarius (19097)
Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Florida)	M. sp. (18583)
Early/Lower Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Texas)	M. insignis, M. sejunctus (18665) M. perditus (18682)
Early/Lower Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	Mexico (Oaxaca)	M. primus, M. sejunctus (18735)
Early/Lower Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Nebraska)	M. coloradense (17880) M. insignis (17903 17904 17905 17955 17972 18019) M. sp. (17971)
Early/Lower Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (Florida)	M. gunteri, M. primus (18538 18549)
Early/Lower Barstovian - early Late Barstovian	16.3 - 12.5	USA (California)	M. brevidontus, M. californicus, M. relictus (156738)
Barstovian - Clarendonian	16.3 - 9.4	USA (New Mexico)	Hipparion sanfondensis (19531)
Barstovian - Clarendonian	16.3 - 9.4	USA (Nebraska)	M. coloradense (18077) M. sp. (18306)
Middle Miocene	15.97 - 11.608	USA (Florida)	M. gunteri (18582)
Middle Miocene	15.97 - 11.608	USA (Colorado)	M. sejunctus (18977)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	USA (Virginia)	M. sp. (71817)
Clarendonian	12.5 - 9.4	USA (Texas)	M. sp. (18610 18645)
Clarendonian	12.5 - 9.4	USA (Nebraska)	M. calamarius, M. coloradense (18314) M. coloradense (18159 18176 18217 18260 18315 18316 18334 18372 18466) M. insignis (18301) M. sp. (18118)
Clarendonian - Hemphillian	12.5 - 4.9	USA (Wyoming)	M. coloradense (18424)
Clarendonian - Pliocene	12.5 - 2.588	USA (Oklahoma)	Neohipparion coloradense (170194)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (Florida)	M. californicus (18509)