Diadiaphorus

Diadiaphorus; Temporal range: Early-Late Miocene (Santacrucian-Huayquerian); ~17.5–6.8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	D. majusculus skull. Collected from Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Litopterna
Family:	†Proterotheriidae
Subfamily:	†Proterotheriinae
Genus:	†Diadiaphorus; Ameghino, 1887
Type species
	†Diadiaphorus majusculus; Ameghino, 1887
Species
	D. caniadensis; D. majusculus Ameghino, 1887; D. paranensis; D. sanctaecrucis; D. velox;
Synonyms
	Genus synonymy Bunodontherium; Mercerat, 1891 ; D. majusculus Bunodontherium majusculum; Mercerat, 1891 ; Diadiaphorus diplinthus; Ameghino, 1894 ; Diadiaphorus robustus; Ameghino, 1894 ; Diadiaphorus coelops; Ameghino, 1904 ;

Diadiaphorus is an extinct genus of litoptern mammal from the Miocene of Argentina (Ituzaingó, Pinturas, Chiquimil and Santa Cruz Formations) and Bolivia (Nazareno Formation), South America.

Description

Diadiaphorus closely resembled a horse, but was only around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in body length with a weight 70 kilograms (150 lb), similar to a modern sheep.^[1]

It had three toes, only one of which touched the ground. This toe had a large hoof; the two outer toes were rudimentary, much like those of early horses such as Merychippus. Unlike horses, however, Diadiaphorus lacked fused limb bones. Its skull was short and had a relatively large brain cavity. Judging from its low molars, Diadiaphorus ate soft vegetation, such as leaves.^[2]

1901 skeletal illustration of D. majusculus, mostly based on bones from two separate individuals.

1913 illustration of D. majusculus by Charles R. Knight.

References

^ D. Patterson, Bruce (2012) Bones, Clones, and Biomes: The History and Geography of Recent Neotropical Mammals p.92
^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 247. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

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[1] D. Patterson, Bruce (2012) Bones, Clones, and Biomes: The History and Geography of Recent Neotropical Mammals p.92

[EoDP-2] Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 247. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

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