Miniochoerus

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Miniochoerus
Fossil range: Late Eocene to Oligocene

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Merycoidodontidae
Subfamily:	†Miniochoerinae
Genus:	†Miniochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956

Type species

†Merycoidodon battlecreekensis

Species^[1]

†M. affinis (=M. battlecreekensis)
†M. chadronensis
†M. forsythae
†M. gracilis
†M. starkensis

Synonyms

Paraminiochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956^[2]
Parastenopsochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956
Platyochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956
Pseudostenopsochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956^[2]
Stenopsochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1956

Miniochoerus is a genus of small oreodonts, and the only member of the subfamily Miniochoerinae.^[1] Typically, there were about the size of a small dog. Their skulls were small and short, compared to other oreodont species, many of which had proportionately large heads. Unlike other oreodont species, they had small canines which would have done little good against foes. The genus arose during the late Eocene, and survived the Late Eocene extinction event, giving rise to a dwarfed lineage during the early Oligocene.^[3]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Stevens, M.S.; Stevens, J.B. (1996). "Merycoidodontinae and Miniochoerinae", in Prothero, D.R.; and Emry, R.J. (eds.): The terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene transition in North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 498–573. ISBN 0521433878.
^ ^a ^b Subgenus not recognized by Stevens and Stevens.
^ Prothero, D.R. (2006). After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253347335.