Natural History

Eotitanops

Eotitanops (lit. 'dawn titanic face') is an extinct genus of primitive brontothere that lived in Asia and North America during the Early Eocene. Eotitanops is generally considered to be the most basal (primitive) brontothere and may represent the earliest member of the group. Two species of Eotitanops are currently recognized from North America, the type and larger species E. borealis, known from the Colorado, Wyoming, and Baja California, and the smaller species E. gregoryi (also known under the junior synonym E. minimus) from Colorado and Wyoming. Eotitanops fossils from Pakistan, contemporary with the North American species, have been assigned to a third species, E. pakistanensis. Fragmentary fossils of primitive brontotheres found on the Arctic Ellesmere Island in Canada may also belong to Eotitanops. Eotitanops lived during the warm Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, and appears to have inhabited humid and densely forested habitats. Eotitanops was a small animal, weighing less than 100 kilograms (220 lb) and standing up to 75 centimetres (2.46 ft) tall at the shoulder. Other than features of its dentition, which place Eotitanops with the brontotheres, it would probably have been difficult to tell Eotitanops apart from primitive representatives of other perissodactyl lineages.

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See also

• ▸Corvidae
• ▸John Zarnecki
• ▸Environment of China

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