Phylum Chordata | Genus Xenorhinotherium Rank Species | |
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Scientific name Xenorhinotherium bahiensis Similar Macraucheniidae, Litopterna, Theosodon, Cramauchenia, Macrauchenia patachonica | ||
Xenorhinotherium bahiensis is an extinct Brazilian macraucheniid closely related to Macrauchenia of Patagonia.
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Name
Some authors place X. bahiensis in the genus Macrauchenia, while still others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. The genus name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiensis refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where its fossils are found.
Characteristics
Like other macraucheniids, X. bahiensis had a small proboscis, or trunk, and three toes on each foot. This animal was an herbivore that averaged around five meters in length, and was approximately three meters in height. In life, X. bahiensis probably looked very much like a larger version of Macrauchenia, that is, vaguely like a very tall, humpless camel with a small, tapir-like trunk.
Era and location
Fossils of Xenorhinotherium, dating from the Pleistocene Epoch, have been found in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais in modern Brazil, and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima Taima and Cuenca del Lago.