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Merychyus elegans

Mammalia - Merycoidodontidae

Taxonomy
Merychyus elegans was named by Leidy (1858) [genotype]. Its type specimen is ANSP 11290, USNM 121, ANSP 11289, a partial skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Martin Canyon Quarry A, which is in a Hemingfordian channel horizon in the Pawnee Creek Formation of Colorado. It is the type species of Merychyus.

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1858Merychyus elegans Leidy p. 25
1873Merychyus elegans Leidy p. 201
1884Merychyus elegans Cope p. 545
1890Merychyus elegans Scott and Osborn p. 72
1902Merychyus elegans Hay p. 669
1906Merychyus elegans Douglass p. 567
1924Merychyus paniensis Loomis
1937Merychyus elegans Thorpe p. 226 figs. PI. XXXI, figs. 5-8
1937Merychyus elegans paniensis Thorpe p. 227 figs. fig. 165, pl. 34, fig. 4.
1947Merychyus elegans Schultz and Falkenbach p. 192 figs. 1, 4, 13, 15-17
2007Merychyus elegans Stevens and Stevens p. 164
2009Merychyus elegans Morgan et al. p. 95
2023Merychyus elegans Stevens et al. p. 43 figs. Figure 31; Appendix 2E; Table A13

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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
—Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
—Theriiformes()
—Trechnotheria
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
familyMerycoidodontidae
subfamilyMerychyinae
genusMerychyus
specieselegans

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.

†Merychyus elegans Leidy 1858
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Invalid names: Merychyus paniensis Loomis 1924 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
C. B. Schultz and C. H. Falkenbach 1947SKULL: Larger than that of M. minimus, approaching that of M. arenarum in size; bulla semi-depressed, somewhat as in Mery- chyus (Metoreodon). (See generic characters.)
MANDIBLE: Same size comparisons as skull. (See generic characters.)
DENTITION: Series larger than those of M. minimus and with a tendency to be larger than in M. arenarum, but with a certain amount of overlapping.
LIMBS: Closer to those of M. minimus, smaller and lighter than those of M. arenarum.
M. S. Stevens et al. 2023Large species of Merychyus (M1-3 length = 42-49 mm), about the same size as M. arenarum, but with broaderand lower-crowned cheek teeth, with a smaller less hypsodont M3/m3, a relatively smaller and more depressed auditory bulla, and a more fan-shaped occipital crest. Disjunctly larger than M. minimus.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialo
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: ground dwellingf
Diet: herbivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2005-08-31 14:37:21
Modified: 2005-08-31 16:37:21
Source: f = family, o = order, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Nowak 1999, Lillegraven 1979, Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988, Lander 1998

Age range: Hemingfordian or 20.43000 to 15.97000 Ma

Collections (32 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
late Late Arikareean29.5 - 18.5USA (California) Merychyus elegans (167849)
Harrisonian24.8 - 18.5USA (Nebraska) Merychyus elegans (17799)
Miocene23.03 - 5.333USA (Nevada) Merychyus elegans (18981)
Miocene23.03 - 5.333Mexico (Aguascalientes) Merychyus elegans (18756)
Early/Lower Hemingfordian20.43 - 15.97USA (Nebraska) Merychyus elegans (17898 17926 17927 17930 17931 17934 17937 17939 17941 17942 17943 17944 17945 17989 18005 18021)
Early/Lower Hemingfordian20.43 - 15.97USA (Wyoming) Merychyus elegans (19046)
Early/Lower Hemingfordian20.43 - 15.97USA (California) Merychyus elegans (167840 167841)
Hemingfordian20.43 - 15.97USA (Colorado) Merychyus elegans (type locality: 17965)
Hemingfordian20.43 - 15.97USA (Nebraska) Merychyus elegans (17867 17982) Merychyus sp. (17991)
Hemingfordian - Barstovian20.43 - 12.5USA (California) Merychyus relictus (19478)
Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (California) Merychyus relictus (19153) Merychyus sp. (19137)
Barstovian16.3 - 12.5USA (Idaho) Merychyus sp. (19013)
Barstovian - Clarendonian16.3 - 9.4USA (Nebraska) Merychyus elegans (190543)