Merycopotamus is an extinct genus of Asian anthracothere that appeared during the Middle Miocene, and died out in the Late Pliocene. At the height of the genus' influence, species ranged throughout South Asia.[2] With the extinction of the last species, M. dissimilis, the lineage of anthracotheres came to an end. Merycopotamus was closely related to the anthracothere genus Libycosaurus, which, unlike the former, never left Africa.[3] In fact, some African fossils originally placed in Merycopotamus, but are now referred to Libycosaurus.[2][4]
| Merycopotamus Temporal range:
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| Fossil casts of Merycopotamus dissimilis at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | †Anthracotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Bothriodontinae |
| Genus: | †Merycopotamus Falconer & Cautley, 1847 |
| Type species | |
| †Merycopotamus dissimilis | |
| Species | |
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References
edit- ^ Hanta, R.; Ratanasthien, B.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Saegusa, H.; Nakaya, H.; Nagaoka, S. & Jintasakul, S. (2008). "A New Species of Bothriodontinae, Merycopotamus thachangensis (Cetartiodactyla, Anthracotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (4): 1182–1188. doi:10.1671/0272-4634-28.4.1182. S2CID 130059264.
- ^ a b Lihoreau, F.; J. Barry; C. Blondel; Y. Chiamanee; J.-J. Jaeger; M. Brunet (2007). "Anatomical revision of the genus Merycopotamus (Artiodactyla; Anthracotheriidae): its significance for late Miocene mammal dispersal in Asia". Palaeontology. 50 (2): 503–524. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00643.x. S2CID 129663125.
- ^ Lihoreau, Fabrice; Jean-Renaud Boisserie; et al. (2006). "Anthracothere dental anatomy reveals a late Miocene Chado-Libyan bioprovince" (PDF). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 103 (originally published online May 24, 2006): 8763–7. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.8763L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0603126103. PMC 1482652. PMID 16723392.
- ^ Pickford, Martin (2006). "Sexual and individual morphometric variation in Libycosaurus (Mammalia, Anthracotheriidae) from the Maghreb and Libya". Geobios. 39 (2): 267–310. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2004.06.006.
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