Xenorhinotherium

Xenorhinotherium is an extinct genus of macraucheniids, closely related to Macrauchenia of Patagonia. The type species is X. bahiense.[1]

Xenorhinotherium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Litopterna
Family: †Macraucheniidae
Subfamily: †Macraucheniinae
Genus: †Xenorhinotherium
Cartelle & Lessa 1988
Type species
X. bahiense
Map showing the distribution of Macrauchenia in red, and Xenorhinotherium in yellow, inferred from fossil finds

Taxonomy

Some authors place X. bahiense in the genus Macrauchenia (as M. bahiensis, while others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. The genus name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiense refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where its fossils are found.[2]

Characteristics

X. bahiense was a megafaunal herbivore that probably looked very much like a larger version of Macrauchenia, averaging around 5 meters in length, and was approximately 3 meters in height. In life, X. bahiense would have vaguely resembled a very tall, humpless camel with three toes on each foot and either a saiga-like proboscis[3] or a moose-like nose.[4] However, 12,600 to 11,800 year old pictographs from the Serranía de La Lindosa rock formation of Guaviare, Colombia, showed what might possibly be Xenorhinotherium with a trunk.[5][6]

Distribution

Fossils of Xenorhinotherium, dating to the Late Pleistocene, have been found in the states of Bahia, the Jandaíra Formation of Rio Grande do Norte,[1] and Minas Gerais in modern Brazil,[7] and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima-Taima and Cuenca del Lago.[8][9]

Classification

Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis published by Schmidt et al., 2014, showing the position of Xenorhinotherium:[10]

 
 

Proadiantus

 
 
 

Tricoelodus

 
 
 

Polymorphis

 
 
 

Pternoconius

 
 

Coniopternium

 
 

Cramauchenia

 
 
 

Theosodon

 
 
Macraucheniinae
 

Scalabrinitherium

 
 
 

Oxyodontherium

 
 
 

Huayqueriana

 
 
 
 

Paranauchenia denticulata

 
 

Paranauchenia hystatus

 
 
 
 

Cullinia

 
 
 

Promacrauchenia

 
 
 

Windhausenia

 
 

Xenorhinotherium

 
 
 

Macraucheniopsis

 
 

Macrauchenia

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

References
  1. Xenorhinotherium at Fossilworks.org
  2. Cartelle, C.; Lessa, G. (1988). "Descrição de um novo gênero e espécie de Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) do Pleistoceno do Brasil" [Description of a new genus and species of Macrauchenidae (Mammalia, Litopterna) from the Pleistocene of Brazil]. Paulacoutiana (in Portuguese). 3: 3–26.
  3. The illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. Palmer, Douglas., Cox, C. Barry (Christopher Barry), 1931-. London: Marshall Pub. 1999. ISBN 1-84028-152-9. OCLC 44131898.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Moyano, Silvana Rocio; Giannini, Norberto Pedro (November 2018). "Cranial characters associated with the proboscis postnatal-development in Tapirus (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) and comparisons with other extant and fossil hoofed mammals". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 277: 143–147. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2018.08.005.
  5. Morcote-Ríos, Gaspar; Aceituno, Francisco Javier; Iriarte, José; Robinson, Mark; Chaparro-Cárdenas, Jeison L. (29 April 2020). "Colonisation and early peopling of the Colombian Amazon during the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene: New evidence from La Serranía La Lindosa". Quaternary International. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.04.026.
  6. "12,000-Year-Old Rock Drawings of Ice Age Megafauna Discovered in Colombian Amazon | Archaeology | Sci-News.com". Breaking Science News | Sci-News.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  7. Scherer, Carolina; Pitana, Vanessa; Ribeiro, Ana Maria (28 December 2009). "Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 12 (3): 231–246. doi:10.4072/RBP.2009.3.06.
  8. Socorro 2006, p. .
  9. Morón 2015, p. 110.
  10. Schmidt, Gabriela I.; Ferrero, Brenda S. (September 2014). "Taxonomic Reinterpretation of Theosodon hystatus Cabrera and Kraglievich, 1931 (Litopterna, Macraucheniidae) and Phylogenetic Relationships of the Family". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1231–1238. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.837393.

Bibliography
  • Morón, Camilo (January 2015). "Panorama geológico, paleontológico, arqueológico, histórico y mitológico del estado Falcón" [Geological panorama, paleontology, archeology, history and mythology in the State of Falcon, Venezuela]. Boletín Antropológico (in Spanish). 89 (1).
  • Socorro, Orangel Antonio Aguilera (2006). Tesoros paleontológicos de Venezuela: el cuaternario del Estado Falcón [Paleontological treasures of Venezuela: the quaternary of the Falcón State] (in Spanish). Ministerio de la Cultura. ISBN 978-980-12-1379-6.

Further reading
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