Kingdom Animalia Superfamily †Chalicotherioidea Subfamily †Schizotheriinae Rank Genus | Class Mammalia Family †Chalicotheriidae Phylum Chordata Order Odd-toed ungulate | |
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Similar Chalicothere, Moropus, Chalicotherium, Odd‑toed ungulate, Tylocephalonyx | ||
Ancylotherium (from Greek, meaning "hooked beast") is an extinct genus of the family Chalicotheriidae, subfamily Schizotheriinae, endemic to Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene (9.0—1.8 mya), existing for approximately 7.2 million years.
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Taxonomy
Ancylotherium was named by Gaudry (1863) and was assigned to Chalicotheriidae by Carroll (1988); and to Schizotheriinae by Geraads et al. (2007).
Description
At 2 metres (6.6 ft) high at the shoulder and a weight of 450 kilograms (990 lb), Ancylotherium was relatively large, and was built rather like a goat. While it had long forelimbs and short hind limbs like other chalicotheres, it did not walk on its knuckles. It was similar to the North American genus Moropus.
Environment
Ancylotherium's habitat was the savannahs of East and South Africa. As an herbivore, it evolved to browse on vegetation on the trees in the grassy savannahs of Africa. Ancylotherium's closest relatives are the other perissodactyls, or "odd-toed" ungulates, including the extinct brontotheres and modern-day mammals such as horses, tapirs, and rhinoceroses.
Fossil distribution
Fossil remains of Ancylotherium have been found at many of the hominid fossil sites in Plio-Pleistocene Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, including sites in Laetoli, Olduvai and Omo. Furthermore, Miocene era fossils sites are located in Afghanistan, Greece, Kenya, former Serbia and Montenegro and Turkey.