Anchitherium: Research Database
Theropoda · Cretaceous · Unknown
Research Note: Anchitherium was a theropoda from the Cretaceous of Unknown, providing important data on prehistoric life and ecosystem dynamics.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tleuberdina Forsten 2001: Anchitherium and related taxa Geobios | Confirmed | B | 2001 | Fossil | Tleuberdina Forsten, Geobios | Taxonomy |
Forstén 1990: Anchitherium and related taxa Journal of Human Evolution | Confirmed | C | 1990 | Fossil | Forstén, Journal of Human Evolution | Taxonomy |
What We Still Do Not Know About Anchitherium
- Complete skeletal morphology and ecological role.
- Phylogenetic relationships within Theropoda.
- Distribution and evolutionary history.
In Depth
Anchitherium was a genus of three toed prehistoric horse that was a browser of plants rather than a grazer of grass, something that is most easily revealed by the teeth that have much lower crowns than those of known grazing horses. This is also why Anchitherium disappeared without leaving any modern descendants because as the Miocene progressed the coverage of plains environments continued to spread across the globe. This saw Anchitherium faced with an ever decreasing amount of suitable habitat with which it could browse from suitable plants. Meanwhile as this was happening other types of horses that had adapted to take advantage of the expanding grassy plains such as Merychippus thrived.
Further Reading
– Description of some fossil vertebrates from the Upper Miocene of Texas. – Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 37:1-18. – O. P. Hay – 1924. – Anchitherium (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the Halamagai Formation of Northern Junggar Basin, Xinjiang. – Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 43 (2): 100–109. – J. Ye, W.-Y. Wu & J. Meng – 2005. – Three-toed Browsing Horse Anchitherium (Equidae) from the Miocene of Panama. – Journal of Paleontology 83(3):489-492. – Bruce J. McFadden – 2009. – Anchitherium (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the Early Miocene Hiramaki Formation, Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and its Implication for the Early Diversification of Asian Anchitherium. – Journal of Paleontology 84(4):763-773. – Kazunori Miyata & Yukimitsu Tomida – 2010.
