Elomeryx

Elomeryx; Temporal range:
	Elomeryx garbanii
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Anthracotheriidae
Subfamily:	†Bothriodontinae
Genus:	†Elomeryx; Marsh, 1894
Type species
	†Elomeryx armatus;
Species
	†E. armatus; †E. borbonicus; †E. cluai; †E. crispus; †E. garbanii;

Elomeryx is an extinct genus of artiodactyl, and is among the earliest known anthracotheres. The genus was extremely widespread, first being found in Asia in the middle Eocene, in Europe during the latest Eocene, and having spread to North America by the early Oligocene.^[1] The closest living relatives of the Elomeryx are thought to be suids, hippopotami, and cetaceans.^[2]

Elomeryx was about 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in body length, and had a long, vaguely horse-like head. It had small tusks which it used to uproot plants, and spoon-shaped incisors ideal for pulling and cropping water plants. Elomeryx had five-toed hind legs and four-toed front legs, resulting in wide feet which made it easier to walk on soft mud. It probably had similar habits to the modern hippopotamus, to which it may have been related.^[3]

Palaeobiology

Locomotion

Based on analysis of the microanatomy of its long bones, Elomeryx borbonicus was fully terrestrial.^[4]

References

^ Ducrocq, S. & F. Lihoreau (2006). "The occurrence of bothriodontines (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) in the Paleogene of Asia with special reference to Elomeryx: Paleobiogeographical implications". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 27 (6): 885–891. Bibcode:2006JAESc..27..885D. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.09.004.
^ O'Leary, Maureen A. (2001). "The Phylogenetic Position of Cetaceans: Further Combined Data Analyses, Comparisons with the Stratigraphic Record and a Discussion of Character Optimization". American Zoologist. 41 (3): 487–506. doi:10.1093/icb/41.3.487.
^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 268. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
^ Houssaye, Alexandra; Martin, Florian; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Lihoreau, Fabrice (13 March 2021). "Paleoecological Inferences from Long Bone Microanatomical Specializations in Hippopotamoidea (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (3): 847–870. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09536-x. ISSN 1064-7554. Retrieved 21 September 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.

[Duc&Lih-1] Ducrocq, S. & F. Lihoreau (2006). "The occurrence of bothriodontines (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) in the Paleogene of Asia with special reference to Elomeryx: Paleobiogeographical implications". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 27 (6): 885–891. Bibcode:2006JAESc..27..885D. doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2005.09.004.

[2] O'Leary, Maureen A. (2001). "The Phylogenetic Position of Cetaceans: Further Combined Data Analyses, Comparisons with the Stratigraphic Record and a Discussion of Character Optimization". American Zoologist. 41 (3): 487–506. doi:10.1093/icb/41.3.487.

[EoDP-3] Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 268. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

[4] Houssaye, Alexandra; Martin, Florian; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Lihoreau, Fabrice (13 March 2021). "Paleoecological Inferences from Long Bone Microanatomical Specializations in Hippopotamoidea (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (3): 847–870. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09536-x. ISSN 1064-7554. Retrieved 21 September 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.

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