Colodon

Colodon
Temporal range: Late Eocene - Early Oligocene
A mandible of C. occidentalis at the Yale Peabody Museum
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: †Helaletidae
Genus: †Colodon
Marsh, 1890
Type species
†Colodon occidentalis
Leidy, 1868
Species
  • C. angulatus
  • C. kayi
  • C. occidentalis
  • C. stovalli
  • C. woodi

Colodon is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammals that were related to tapirs of today.

Taxonomy

Species of Colodon were originally placed within the genus Lophiodon but were later found to be distinct.

Description

Colodon had small or absent canines and short, broad cheek teeth. The skull had a greatly enlarged narial incision and greatly reduced nasals. Similarities between the skulls of Colodon and true tapirs suggest it may have had a very small trunk as well.

Colodon first appeared in the Late Eocene and lasted until the Whitneyan.

References

  1. ↑ "Fossilworks: Colodon".
  2. ↑ L. T. Holbrook. 1999. The Phylogeny and classification of tapiromorph perissodactyls (Mammalia). Cladistics 15(3):331-350
  3. 1 2 Benton, Rachel C. (2015). The White River Badlands: Geology and Paleontology. Indiana University Press. p. 156. ISBN 9780253016089.