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Propalaeotherium
 
 
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Propalaeotherium was an early genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of perissodactyl ancestral to the horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
. Its name means "before Palaeotherium", as it is the ancestor of Palaeotherium
Palaeotherium

Palaeotherium is an extinct genus of primitive perissodactyl ungulate. George Cuvier originally described them as being a kind of tapir, and as such, Palaeotherium is popularly reconstructed as a tapir-like animal....
, another relative of early horses. Although they were descended from the earliest ancestral horse, Hyracotherium
Hyracotherium

Hyracotherium was a genus of dog-sized perissodactyl ungulates that lived in the Northern Hemisphere, with species ranging throughout Asia, Europe, and North America during the Early to Mid Eocene, about 60 to 45 million years ago....
, the Propaleotheres and Paleotheres were not the ancestors of the modern horse; their line died out around 45 million years ago, leaving no descendants.

alaeotheres were small animals, ranging from 30–60 cm at the shoulder.






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Propalaeotherium was an early genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of perissodactyl ancestral to the horse
Horse

The horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolution of the horse over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, odd-toed ungulate animal of today....
. Its name means "before Palaeotherium", as it is the ancestor of Palaeotherium
Palaeotherium

Palaeotherium is an extinct genus of primitive perissodactyl ungulate. George Cuvier originally described them as being a kind of tapir, and as such, Palaeotherium is popularly reconstructed as a tapir-like animal....
, another relative of early horses. Although they were descended from the earliest ancestral horse, Hyracotherium
Hyracotherium

Hyracotherium was a genus of dog-sized perissodactyl ungulates that lived in the Northern Hemisphere, with species ranging throughout Asia, Europe, and North America during the Early to Mid Eocene, about 60 to 45 million years ago....
, the Propaleotheres and Paleotheres were not the ancestors of the modern horse; their line died out around 45 million years ago, leaving no descendants.

Description

Propalaeotheres were small animals, ranging from 30–60 cm at the shoulder. They looked rather like very small tapirs. They had no hooves, having instead several small nail-like hooflets. They were herbivorous, and the amazingly well-preserved Messel
Messel

Messel is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse near Frankfurt am Main in Germany.The Messel pit is nearby....
 fossil
Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or trace fossil of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous Rock formations and sedimentary rock layers is known as the fossil record....
s show that they ate berries
Berry

In everyday English, a berry is a broad term for any small edible fruit. Most berries are juicy, round or semi-oblong, brightly coloured, sweet or sour, and don't have a stone or pit....
, and leaf matter picked up from the forest floor.


In popular culture


Propalaeotherium was featured in Walking With Beasts
Walking with Beasts

Walking with Beasts is a 2001 six-part television documentary film produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom, narrated by Kenneth Branagh. In North America it has been retitled Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, and the original Discovery Channel broadcast was narrated by Stockard Channing....
.

See also

  • List of mammals
    List of mammals

    The class Mammalia is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: egg laying mammals ; and mammals which give live birth. The latter subclass is divided into two infraclasses: pouched mammals ; and the placental mammals....
  • Evolution of the Horse
    Evolution of the horse

    The evolution of the horse involves the gradual development of the modern horse from the fox-sized, forest-dwelling Hyracotherium. Paleozoology have been able to piece together a more complete picture of the modern horse's evolutionary lineage than that of any other animal....
  • List of prehistoric mammals
    List of prehistoric mammals

    This is a list of articles dealing with animals that lived and went extinct during the prehistoric period. It does not include species that existed then that still continue to exist into recorded history....
  • Mammal
    Mammal

    Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
  • Mammal classification
    Mammal classification

    Mammalia is a class of animal within the Phylum Chordata. Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carolus Linnaeus initially defined the class....


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