In 1876, Othniel C. Marsh described a skeleton as Eohippus validus, from Greek: ἠώς (eōs, 'dawn') and ἵππος (hippos, 'horse'), meaning 'dawn horse'.[citation needed] Its similarities with fossils described by Richard Owen were formally pointed out in a 1932 paper by Clive Forster Cooper. E. validus was moved to the genus Hyracotherium, which had priority as the name for the genus, with Eohippus becoming a junior synonym of that genus. Hyracotherium was recently found to be a paraphyletic group of species, and the genus now includes only H. leporinum. E. validus was found to be identical to an earlier-named species, Orohippus angustidens Cope, 1875,[3] and the resulting binomial is thus Eohippus angustidens.
Descriptionedit
Eohippus stood at about 30 cm (12 in), or 3 hands tall, at the shoulder.[4] It has 4 toes on its front feet and 3 toes on the hinds, each toe ending in a hoof. Its incisors, molars and premolars resemble modern Equus. However, a differentiating trait of Eohippus is its large canine teeth.[5][4]
Stephen Jay Gould commentsedit
In his 1991 essay, "The Case of the Creeping Fox Terrier Clone",[6]Stephen Jay Gould lamented the prevalence of a much-repeated phrase to indicate Eohippus size ("the size of a small Fox Terrier"), even though most readers would be quite unfamiliar with that breed of dog. He concluded that the phrase had its origin in a widely-distributed pamphlet by Henry Fairfield Osborn, and proposed that Osborn, a keen fox hunter, could have made a natural association between his horses and the dogs that accompanied them.[6]
^MacFadden, B. J. (18 March 2005). "Fossil Horses--Evidence for Evolution" (PDF). Science. 307 (5716): 1728–1730. doi:10.1126/science.1105458. PMID 15774746. S2CID 19876380.
^Froehlich, D. J. (2002). "Quo vadis eohippus? The systematics and taxonomy of the early Eocene equids (Perissodactyla)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 134 (2): 141–256. doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00005.x.
^Cope, E.D. (1875). Systematic Catalogue of Vertebrata of the Eocene of New Mexico, collected in 1874. p. 22.
^ ab "Hyracotherium (Eohippus)". University of Guelph. from the original on 2020-11-13.
eohippus, extinct, genus, small, equid, ungulates, only, species, angustidens, which, long, considered, species, hyracotherium, remains, have, been, identified, north, america, date, early, eocene, ypresian, stage, temporal, range, ypresian, preꞒ, reconstructe. Eohippus is an extinct genus of small equid ungulates 1 The only species is E angustidens which was long considered a species of Hyracotherium Its remains have been identified in North America and date to the Early Eocene Ypresian stage 2 EohippusTemporal range Ypresian 55 8 47 8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Reconstructed skeleton National Museum of Natural History Washington DC United States Scientific classification Domain Eukaryota Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Order Perissodactyla Family Equidae Genus EohippusMarsh 1876 Species E angustidens Binomial name Eohippus angustidens Cope 1875 Synonyms Eohippus validusHyracotherium angustidensH a angustidensH a etsagicumH vasaccienseH v vasaccienseH cusptidatumH seekinsiH loeviiOrohippus angustidensOrohippus cuspidatusOrohippus vasacciensisLophiotherium vasacciense Contents 1 Discovery 2 Description 3 Stephen Jay Gould comments 4 See also 5 ReferencesDiscovery edit nbsp Restoration by Charles Knight In 1876 Othniel C Marsh described a skeleton as Eohippus validus from Greek ἠws eōs dawn and ἵppos hippos horse meaning dawn horse citation needed Its similarities with fossils described by Richard Owen were formally pointed out in a 1932 paper by Clive Forster Cooper E validus was moved to the genus Hyracotherium which had priority as the name for the genus with Eohippus becoming a junior synonym of that genus Hyracotherium was recently found to be a paraphyletic group of species and the genus now includes only H leporinum E validus was found to be identical to an earlier named species Orohippus angustidens Cope 1875 3 and the resulting binomial is thus Eohippus angustidens Description editEohippus stood at about 30 cm 12 in or 3 hands tall at the shoulder 4 It has 4 toes on its front feet and 3 toes on the hinds each toe ending in a hoof Its incisors molars and premolars resemble modern Equus However a differentiating trait of Eohippus is its large canine teeth 5 4 Stephen Jay Gould comments editIn his 1991 essay The Case of the Creeping Fox Terrier Clone 6 Stephen Jay Gould lamented the prevalence of a much repeated phrase to indicate Eohippus size the size of a small Fox Terrier even though most readers would be quite unfamiliar with that breed of dog He concluded that the phrase had its origin in a widely distributed pamphlet by Henry Fairfield Osborn and proposed that Osborn a keen fox hunter could have made a natural association between his horses and the dogs that accompanied them 6 See also editMesohippus ProtohippusReferences edit nbsp Wikispecies has information related to eohippus nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to eohippus MacFadden B J 18 March 2005 Fossil Horses Evidence for Evolution PDF Science 307 5716 1728 1730 doi 10 1126 science 1105458 PMID 15774746 S2CID 19876380 Froehlich D J 2002 Quo vadis eohippus The systematics and taxonomy of the early Eocene equids Perissodactyla Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 134 2 141 256 doi 10 1046 j 1096 3642 2002 00005 x Cope E D 1875 Systematic Catalogue of Vertebrata of the Eocene of New Mexico collected in 1874 p 22 a b Hyracotherium Eohippus University of Guelph Archived from the original on 2020 11 13 Eohippus Size amp Facts Britannica www britannica com Retrieved 2022 09 27 a b Gould S J 1991 Essay 10 The case of the creeping fox terrier clone Bully for Brontosaurus Reflections in Natural History W W Norton amp Co ISBN 978 0 393 02961 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eohippus amp oldid 1214434018, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
