Titanotylopus

Titanotylopus
Temporal range: Hemphillian–Irvingtonian
T. nebraskensis skeleton at Natural History Museum Los Angeles
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Camelidae
Tribe: Camelini
Genus: †Titanotylopus
Barbour & Schultz, 1934[1]
Species

†Titanotylopus nebraskensis
†Titanotylopus spatulus

Synonyms
  • Gigantocamelus?

Titanotylopus is an extinct genus of camel (tribe Camelini), endemic to North America from the late Hemphillian stage of the Miocene through the Irvingtonian stage of the Pleistocene.[2] It was one of the last surviving North American camels; after its extinction, only Camelops remained.

Its name is derived from the Greek words Τιτάν, τύλος and πούς — "Titan", "knob" and "foot"; thus, "giant knobby-foot".

Paleobiology

Titanotylopus is distinguished from other early large camelids by its large upper canines amongst other distinguishing dental characteristics, and absence of lacrimal vacuities in the skull. Unlike the smaller, contemporaneous Camelops, Titanotylopus had relatively broad second phalanges, suggesting that it had true padded "cameltoes", like modern camels.[3]

The species Titanotylopus spatulus was characterized by broad, spatula-like incisors. It has been found at Grand View, Red Light fauna of the Love Formation, Hudspeth County, Texas, Donnelly Ranch, White Rock, Kansas, Mullen II (Kansas), Sandahl Local Fauna (Nebraska), Vallecito Creek, Colorado and 111 Ranch, Arizona in North America.

Appearance

Titanotylopus possessed long and massive limbs, a comparatively small braincase, and a convex slope between the eyes. It reached a shoulder height of 3–3.5 m (9.8–11.5 ft) and a weight of 2,500 kg (5,500 lb).[4][5]

Like modern camels, it possessed a hump for fat storage; evidence for this is provided by the long neural spines on its thoracic vertebrae.[3]

Alternate classification

While some authors have considered Gigantocamelus and Titanotylopus to be congeneric, others have maintained them separately. Voorhies and Corner, based on previously unreported material, documented that the two are indeed worthy of separate generic status. Harrison (1985) followed Voorhies and Corner in advocating the use of Titanotylopus for only T. nebraskensis, based on a lower jaw, and Gigantocamelus for G. spatulus, which includes G. fricki. There is a clear difference between the proximal phalanx of specimens assigned to Gigantocamelus and to Titanotylopus, based on skeletons associated with skull material.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ Barbour, Erwin H.; Schultz, C. Bertrand (1934). "A new giant camel, Titanotylopus nebraskensis, gen. et sp. nov". Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum. 1 (36): 291–294.
  2. ^ "PaleoBiology Database: Titanotylopus, basic info". Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2009-09-20.
  3. ^ a b Björn Kurtén and Elaine Anderson Pleistoceone Mammals of North America (New York : Columbia University Press, 1980), pp. 301–302 ISBN 0-231-03733-3
  4. ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 277. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  5. ^ Prothero, Donald R. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Prehistoric Mammals. Princeton University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-691-15682-8.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Titanotylopus.
  • After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life of the Past) by Donald R. Prothero
  • Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Simon & Schuster.
  • The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth, Second Edition by Stephen Jay Gould
  • Classification of Mammals by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell