Basic Artiodactyl Info
Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates. Their diversity is truly astonishing and covers everything from cows, goats, and deer to giraffes, hippos, and pigs. New studies indicate whales evolved from early artiodactyls and not wolf-like creatures as once thought. While it would take volumes to fully describe all the known artiodactyls from the fossil record, a few are quickly listed below.
Bison
When people think of Bison, they think of the animals that roam Yellowstone National Park in great numbers. They think of the "wild west". Most people don't realize the genus Bison has had a varied and bizarre past. B. priscus of Europe, Asia, and North America was a large, curved-horned species with a horn span of about 4 feet. B. latifrons was a North American species with a horn span of about 7 feet. B. latifrons downsized into B. antiquus (3-4 foot horn span), which, in turn, downsized into the modern B. bison (2 foot horn span).
With a wide variety of features and sizes, it's safe to say bison make a good case for "short term" evolution.
Entelodonts
Entelodonts were massive pig-like beasts that roamed North America, Europe and Asia during the Eocene and into the Miocene. Nearly 7 feet tall at the shoulder, the omnivorous nature of the beast has earned it the names, “hell pig” and “terminator pig”. In Toadstool Park there is even direct evidence (tack ways) of the entelodont, Archaeotherium chasing a Subhyracodon. Entelodont remains are rather uncommon on the market and, therefore, highly desirable.
Megaloceros (Irish elk or giant deer)
Living in eurasia from the Pliocene until the end of the Pleistocene, Megaloceros is one of the most famous deer of all time. Commonly referred to as the “Irish elk”, it wasn’t an elk at all, but was more closely related to fallow deer.
Megaloceros giganteus would have been the most impressive, standing nearly 7 feet tall at the shoulder and having an antler spread of 12 feet, the largest spread of any known deer. The antlers were so large and unwieldy, it is assumed they were no good for fighting, but were the result of sexual selection. The antlers may have actually worked against the deer’s health in times of poor nutrition. It takes lots of calcium to form antlers and when that calcium wasn’t available in the form of fresh food, it could be leached from the animal’s bones.
Oreodonts
Related closely to camels and about the size of a sheep, Oreodonts are one of the most common artiodactyls in the fossil record. They lived during the Oligocene and died out in the early Pliocene, covering a large amount of North America during that time frame.
Poebrotherium
Poebrotherium, standing 3 feet tall, was an early camelid that was very common in Eocene and Oligocene North America. It was built for speed and would have looked like a tiny llama.
Synthetoceras
At nearly 7 feet long, Synthetoceras was the largest protoceratid. Like other protoceratids, it was a strange looking animal with cow-like horns above its eyes, and a long, Y-shaped horn on its nose (in the case of males). This animal roamed North America during the Miocene epoch.
Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates. Their diversity is truly astonishing and covers everything from cows, goats, and deer to giraffes, hippos, and pigs. New studies indicate whales evolved from early artiodactyls and not wolf-like creatures as once thought. While it would take volumes to fully describe all the known artiodactyls from the fossil record, a few are quickly listed below.
Bison
When people think of Bison, they think of the animals that roam Yellowstone National Park in great numbers. They think of the "wild west". Most people don't realize the genus Bison has had a varied and bizarre past. B. priscus of Europe, Asia, and North America was a large, curved-horned species with a horn span of about 4 feet. B. latifrons was a North American species with a horn span of about 7 feet. B. latifrons downsized into B. antiquus (3-4 foot horn span), which, in turn, downsized into the modern B. bison (2 foot horn span).
With a wide variety of features and sizes, it's safe to say bison make a good case for "short term" evolution.
Entelodonts
Entelodonts were massive pig-like beasts that roamed North America, Europe and Asia during the Eocene and into the Miocene. Nearly 7 feet tall at the shoulder, the omnivorous nature of the beast has earned it the names, “hell pig” and “terminator pig”. In Toadstool Park there is even direct evidence (tack ways) of the entelodont, Archaeotherium chasing a Subhyracodon. Entelodont remains are rather uncommon on the market and, therefore, highly desirable.
Megaloceros (Irish elk or giant deer)
Living in eurasia from the Pliocene until the end of the Pleistocene, Megaloceros is one of the most famous deer of all time. Commonly referred to as the “Irish elk”, it wasn’t an elk at all, but was more closely related to fallow deer.
Megaloceros giganteus would have been the most impressive, standing nearly 7 feet tall at the shoulder and having an antler spread of 12 feet, the largest spread of any known deer. The antlers were so large and unwieldy, it is assumed they were no good for fighting, but were the result of sexual selection. The antlers may have actually worked against the deer’s health in times of poor nutrition. It takes lots of calcium to form antlers and when that calcium wasn’t available in the form of fresh food, it could be leached from the animal’s bones.
Oreodonts
Related closely to camels and about the size of a sheep, Oreodonts are one of the most common artiodactyls in the fossil record. They lived during the Oligocene and died out in the early Pliocene, covering a large amount of North America during that time frame.
Poebrotherium
Poebrotherium, standing 3 feet tall, was an early camelid that was very common in Eocene and Oligocene North America. It was built for speed and would have looked like a tiny llama.
Synthetoceras
At nearly 7 feet long, Synthetoceras was the largest protoceratid. Like other protoceratids, it was a strange looking animal with cow-like horns above its eyes, and a long, Y-shaped horn on its nose (in the case of males). This animal roamed North America during the Miocene epoch.
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text, photos, and website Copyright Nick Pfannenstiel
2010 paleo-nick@nicksfossils.com
Megaloceros giganteous (giant deer) lower left jaw.
Also known (wrongly) as the Irish Elk. Pleistocene. Brown Ridge,
Netherlands.
Merycoidodon culbertsoni (oreodont) juvenile skull.
Oligocene. Scenic, South Dakota.
American Steppe Bison (Bison priscus alaskensis)
skull. Pleistocene, Rancholabrean. Yukon River District north of
Fairbanks, Alaska.