Diadiaphorus

Diadiaphorus; Temporal range: Early-Late Miocene (Santacrucian-Huayquerian); ~17.5–6.8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	D. majusculus skull. Collected from Santa Cruz, Patagonia, Argentina.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	†Litopterna
Family:	†Proterotheriidae
Subfamily:	†Proterotheriinae
Genus:	†Diadiaphorus; Ameghino, 1887
Type species
	†Diadiaphorus majusculus; Ameghino, 1887
Species
	D. caniadensis; D. majusculus Ameghino, 1887; D. paranensis; D. sanctaecrucis; D. velox;
Synonyms
	Genus synonymy Bunodontherium; Mercerat, 1891 ; D. majusculus Bunodontherium majusculum; Mercerat, 1891 ; Diadiaphorus diplinthus; Ameghino, 1894 ; Diadiaphorus robustus; Ameghino, 1894 ; Diadiaphorus coelops; Ameghino, 1904 ;

Diadiaphorus is an extinct genus of litoptern mammal from the Miocene of Argentina (Ituzaingó, Pinturas, Chiquimil and Santa Cruz Formations) and Bolivia (Nazareno Formation), South America.

Description

Diadiaphorus closely resembled a horse, but was only around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft) in body length with a weight 70 kilograms (150 lb), similar to a modern sheep.^[1]

It had three toes, only one of which touched the ground. This toe had a large hoof derived from the median digit, the two outer toes were rudimentary, much like those of early horses such as Merychippus. Unlike horses, however, Diadiaphorus lacked fused limb bones. Its skull was short and had a relatively large brain cavity. The neck of Diadiaphorus was shortened as well.^[2] Judging from its low molars, Diadiaphorus ate soft vegetation, such as leaves.^[3] Diadiaphorus had brachyodont teeth, and the second upper and third lower incisors formed a set of pseudo-tusks. The upper molars of Diadiaphorus had two crescentic outer cusps which met in a vertical ridge. The dental formula is 1,0,4,32,1,4,3 × 2 = 36.^[2]

1901 skeletal illustration of D. majusculus, mostly based on bones from two separate individuals.

1913 illustration of D. majusculus by Charles R. Knight.

References

↑ D. Patterson, Bruce (2012) Bones, Clones, and Biomes: The History and Geography of Recent Neotropical Mammals p.92
1 2 Scott, William Berryman (1913). A history of land mammals in the western hemisphere. Smithsonian Libraries. New York, The MacMillan Company.
↑ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 247. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

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[1] D. Patterson, Bruce (2012) Bones, Clones, and Biomes: The History and Geography of Recent Neotropical Mammals p.92

[:0-2] 1 2 Scott, William Berryman (1913). A history of land mammals in the western hemisphere. Smithsonian Libraries. New York, The MacMillan Company.

[EoDP-3] Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 247. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

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