Phylum Chordata Order Odd-toed ungulate | Scientific name Sifrhippus sandrae Rank Genus | |
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Similar Haplohippus, Protorohippus, Onohippidium, Astrohippus, Nannippus | ||
Sifrhippus 2
Sifrhippus is an extinct genus of equid containing the species S. sandrae and S. grangeri. Sifrhippus is the oldest known equid, and its fossils come from the earliest moments of the Eocene of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. A 2012 study found Arenahippus to be synonymous with Sifrhippus.
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Description
Sifrhippus was a very small equid the size of a house cat, varying from 12 to 8.5 pounds (5.4 to 3.9 kilograms), the size variance, according to one theory, depending on the warmth of the climate. Sifrhippus sandrae is referred to in earlier literature as Hyracotherium sandrae, but Froehlich, arguing that the traditional genus Hyracotherium was not monophyletic, reassigned many of its species to other genera, and re-using the old name "Eohippus", for one. Froehlich give H. sandrae the new generic name Sifrhippus, derived from the Arabic صِفْر (ṣifr), "zero", and Greek ἵππος (híppos), "horse".