Osteology of the Middle Eocene ceratomorph Hyrachyus modestus (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) / Bin Bai (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing; and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS, Nanjing), Jin Meng (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing; and Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York), Yuan-qing Wang (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing; and College of Earth Science, UCAS, Beijing), Hai-bing Wang (Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing; and UCAS, Beijing), Luke Holbrook (Department of Biological Sciences, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History; and Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia).
"Issued June 9, 2017." Specimens collected from the Bridger Basin of Wyoming. (Materials and methods, page 5) Local PDF available in high- and low-resolution versions. Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-64).
Summary:
The middle Eocene ceratomorph Hyrachyus has been considered a pivotal genus in ceratomorph evolution, either as a transitional form from tapiroids to rhinocerotoids, giving rise to all later rhinocerotoids, or else as the sister taxon to other rhinocerotoids. Thus, Hyrachyus has been commonly chosen as an outgroup in phylogenetic analyses of rhinocerotoids. However, little has been published on the osteology of Hyrachyus, even though well-preserved craniodental and postcranial specimens of this taxon have been in collections for decades. Here, we describe and illustrate the cranial and postcranial osteology of Hyrachyus modestus, based mainly on the exceptionally preserved specimens housed at the American Museum of Natural History, specifically AMNH FM 12664. Our bone-by-bone description provides detailed information on the osteological morphology of Hyrachyus, which should be useful for phylogenetic analyses of both rhinocerotoids and perissodactyls in general, because it provides one of the more complete and best-preserved examples of the skeleton of an earlier Eocene perissodactyl.
Series:
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 0003-0090 ; no. 413
OCLC:
(OCoLC)989676013
Locations:
OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.