surviving descendants. One of the most important of these was Epihippus ("marginal horse"), which was slightly heavier (possibly weighing a few hundred pounds) and equipped with more robust grinding teeth than its ancestors. The original sequence of species believed to have evolved into the horse was based on fossils discovered in North America in 1879 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. The oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. Strong ligaments attached this hoofed central toe to the bones of the ankles and lower leg, providing a spring mechanism that pushed the flexed hoof forward after the impact of hitting the ground. so. However this adaptation may have also been pushed by the Meet the dodo, thylacine, great auk and more recently extinct animals. According to these results, it appears the genus Equus evolved from a Dinohippus-like ancestor ~47 mya. Following Epihippus were two more "hippi," Parahippus and Merychippus. The cheek teeth developed larger, stronger crests and became adapted to the side-to-side motion of the lower jaw necessary to grind grass blades. Why is Merychippus called ruminating horse? Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World, 36 Questions from Britannicas Most Popular Science Quizzes, Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz. Fossil Horses: Systematics, Paleobiology, and Evolution of the Family Equidae. In the late Eocene, they began developing tougher teeth and becoming slightly larger and leggier, allowing for faster running speeds in open areas, and thus for evading predators in nonwooded areas[citation needed]. - H. F. Osborn - 1904. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. Miohippus became much larger than Mesohippus. Nine other countries have horse populations of more than a million. endstream endobj 5 0 obj<> endobj 6 0 obj<> endobj 7 0 obj<>/ColorSpace<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 8 0 obj<> endobj 9 0 obj<> endobj 10 0 obj[/ICCBased 13 0 R] endobj 11 0 obj<>stream However, all Equidae in North America ultimately became extinct. 0000046723 00000 n About the size of a deer, Mesohippus was distinguished by its three-toed front feet (earlier horses sported four toes on their front limbs) and the wide-set eyes set high atop its long, horse-like skull.
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why did mesohippus become extinct