Platygonus
Name:
Platygonus
(Flat head).
Phonetic: Plat-e-gon-us.
Named By: Le Conte - 1848.
Synonyms: Euchoerus, Hyops and
Protochoerus.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Artiodactyla, Tayassuidae.
Species: P. compressus
(type), P. bicalcaratus, P. brachirostris, P.
intermedius, P. oregonensis, P. pearcei, P. vetus.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Up to 1 meter long.
Known locations: Mostly known from across the United
States. Fossils also reported from Argentina, Canada, Mexico and
Uruguay.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene through to the
Holocene.
Fossil representation: Many individuals.
Platygonus is an extinct genus of peccary, a kind of artiodactyl mammal that is similar to a pig in physical appearance and ecological niche, yet is of a completely separate family. With larger Platygonus approaching one meter in length, they were quite a bit larger than modern peccaries. Platygonus may have been hunted by wolves and machairodont sabre-toothed cats such as Smilodon and Xenosmilus.
Further reading
- Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use
of multiple regression - Journal of Zoology 270 (1):
90–101. - M. Mendoza, C. M. Janis & P.
Palmqvist - 2006.
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