Shrub-ox
Temporal range: Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene
Restoration
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe: Ovibovini
Genus: †Euceratherium
Furlong & Sinclair, 1904
Species:
†E. collinum
Binomial name
†Euceratherium collinum
Furlong & Sinclair, 1904
Synonyms

Genus level:

  • Aftonius

Species level:

  • Preptoceras sinclairi

The shrub-ox (Euceratherium collinum) is an extinct species of ovibovine caprine native to North America. It was the only species in the genus Euceratherium.

Descriptions

Mounted skeleton (with missing ribs)
Restoration from 1913 by Robert Bruce Horsfall

Euceratherium was one of the first bovids to enter North America. It appeared on the continent during the early Pleistocene (around 1.1 million years ago), long before the first bison arrived from Eurasia. It went extinct by ~13,000 years ago, just before the onset of the Younger Dryas. It was formally described in 1904.[1]

Taxonomy

It is possibly synonymous with Bootherium, although this is uncertain.[2] It was the only species in the genus Eurceratherium. Three other species of muskoxen inhabited North America during the Pleistocene era; in addition to the extant tundra muskox (Ovibos moschatus), the extinct Bootherium and Soergel's ox (Soergelia mayfieldi) were also present.

Distribution

Late Pleistocene shrub-ox remains are known from fossil finds spanning from what is now northern California to central Mexico. In the east of their range, they were distributed at least into Illinois.

Description

Euceratherium was massively built and in size between a modern American bison (Bison bison) and a muskox. A specimen was estimated to have a body mass of 607.5 kg (1,339 lb).[3]

Ecology

On the basis of preserved dung pellets, it has been established that they were browsers with a diet of trees and shrubs.[4] They seem to have preferred hilly landscapes.

References

  1. ↑ Furlong, E. L. & Sinclair, W. J. (1904). Preliminary description of Euceratherium collinum. University of California Publications, American Archaeology and Ethnology, 2:18.
  2. ↑ Bover, Pere; Llamas, Bastien; Thomson, Vicki A.; Pons, Joan; Cooper, Alan; Mitchell, Kieren J. (December 2018). "Molecular resolution to a morphological controversy: The case of North American fossil muskoxen Bootherium and Symbos". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 129: 70–76. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.08.008. PMID 30121342.
  3. ↑ |Paleobiology Database- Euceratherium collinum
  4. ↑ Kropf, M.; Mead, J. I.; Anderson, R. S. (January 2007). "Dung, diet, and the paleoenvironment of the extinct shrub-ox (Euceratherium collinum) on the Colorado Plateau, USA". Quaternary Research. Elsevier. 67 (1): 143–151. Bibcode:2007QuRes..67..143K. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2006.10.002. Accessed 2008-08-19.

Further reading

  • P. S. Martin: Quaternary Extinctions. The University of Arizona Press, 1984 ISBN 0-8165-1100-4
  • Grundzüge der Faunen- und Verbreitungsgeschichte der Säugetiere, E. Thenius, 2.Auflage, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1980 ISBN 3-437-30312-0


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