Xenorhinotherium

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

Xenorhinotherium Temporal range: Late Pleistocene (Ensenadan-Lujanian) ~0.126–0.011 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Litopterna
Family:	Macraucheniidae
Genus:	Xenorhinotherium Cartelle & Lessa 1988
Species:	X. bahiense (type)
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 still 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 that is, vaguely like a very tall, humpless camel with and three toes on each foot, with either a small, tapir or saiga-like trunk or proboscis, or a moose-like nose.[3]

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,[4] and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima-Taima and Cuenca del Lago.[5][6]

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. Paulacoutiana 3:3-26.
3. Moyano, S.R.; Giannini, N.P. (2018-10-10). "Cranial characters associated with the proboscis postnatal-development in Tapirus (Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) and comparisons with other extant and fossil hoofed mammals". Zoologischer Anzeiger. 277 (7554): 143–147. doi:10.1016/j.jcz.2018.08.005. ISSN 0044-5231.
4. Carolina Saldanha Scherer, Vanessa Gregis Pitana & Ana Maria Ribeiro. Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil. Rev. bras. paleontol. 12(3):231-246, Setembro/Dezembro 2009, doi:10.4072/rbp.2009.3.06
5. Socorro, 2006
6. Morón, 2015, p.110

Bibliography

• Morón, Camilo. 2015. Panorama geológico, paleontológico, arqueológico, histórico y mitológico del estado Falcón. Boletín Antropológico, Universidad de Los Andes 33. 104–126. Accessed 2017-09-29.
• Socorro, O.A.A. 2006. Tesoros paleontológicos de Venezuela, el Cuaternario del Estado Falcón, 1–120. Taima Taima, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural.