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Platygonus

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Platygonus
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Late Pleistocene
~10.3–0.011 Ma
Platygonus compressus skeleton at Harvard University
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tayassuidae
Genus: †Platygonus
LeConte 1848
Type species
†Platygonus compressus
LeConte 1848
Species

See text

Synonyms
  • Euchoerus Leidy 1853
  • Hyops LeConte 1848
  • Protochoerus LeConte 1848
  • Selenogonus Stirton 1947

Platygonus ("flat head" in reference to the straight shape of the forehead)[1] is an extinct genus of herbivorous peccaries of the family Tayassuidae, endemic to North and South America from the Miocene through Pleistocene epochs (10.3 million to 11,000 years ago), existing for about 10.289 million years.[2] P. compressus stood 2.5 feet (0.76 meters) tall.[3][4]

Restoration

Description

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Most Platygonus species were similar in size to modern peccaries especially giant peccary, at around 1 m (3.3 ft) in body length, and had long legs, allowing them to run well. They also had a pig-like snout and long tusks which were probably used to fend off predators.[5]

Taxonomy

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While long thought to be the sister-lineage to the Chacoan peccary based on morphological similarities, a 2017 ancient DNA study which recovered mitochondrial DNA from Platygonus found that all living peccaries are more closely related to each other than they are to Platygonus. The estimated divergence between Platygonus and all living peccaries was placed in the Miocene, around 22 million years ago.[6]

Ecology

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Like modern peccaries, Platygonus is thought to have lived in herds. Their remains are particularly abundant in caves, suggesting that they regularly used them. A study on the population structure of a population of P. compressus from Bat Cave, Missouri found that they had a similar demographic structure to modern peccaries, dominated by young adults, with a progressive attenuation of older adults due to predation and old-age, up to a maximum age of around 10 years.[7] Platygonus is thought to have consumed tough foliage like leaves and grass.[8]

Distribution

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During the Late Pleistocene, Platygonus was most common in Eastern North America, with records in the Great Plains and western North America being more sparse.[9] In South America, Platygonus ranged from Colombia to Argentina.[10]

Taxonomy

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Platygonus compressus skull in The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Platygonus was named by John Lawrence LeConte in 1848 for fossils found in Pleistocene karst deposits in Illinois, which are now preserved in the Academy of National Sciences in Philadelphia.

The following species of Platygonus have been described:[2]

  • P. bicalcaratus (nomen dubium)
  • P. brachirostris
  • P. chapadmalensis
  • P. cinctus
  • P. compressus (type)
  • P. kraglievichi
  • P. marplatensis
  • P. narinoensis
  • P. oregonensis
  • P. pearcei
  • P. pollenae
  • P. scagliae
  • P. setiger
  • P. striatus
  • P. texanus
  • P. vetus

Fossil localities

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Fossils of Platygonus have been found in:[2]

Miocene
Chapadmalalan
Hemphillian
Blancan
Plio-Pleistocene
Pleistocene

References

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  1. ^ "Peccary". Idaho Museum of Natural History. November 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Platygonus in the Paleobiology Database
  3. ^ Perry, Tahlia; van Loenen, Ayla L.; Heiniger, Holly; Lee, Carol; Gongora, Jaime; Cooper, Alan; Mitchell, Kieren J. (July 2017). "Ancient DNA analysis of the extinct North American flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 112: 258–267. Bibcode:2017MolPE.112..258P. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.024. ISSN 1095-9513. PMID 28363818.
  4. ^ "Flat-headed Peccary | Explore the Ice Age Midwest". iceage.museum.state.il.us. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  5. ^ Palmer 1999, p. 269
  6. ^ Perry, Tahlia; van Loenen, Ayla L.; Heiniger, Holly; Lee, Carol; Gongora, Jaime; Cooper, Alan; Mitchell, Kieren J. (July 2017). "Ancient DNA analysis of the extinct North American flat-headed peccary (Platygonus compressus)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 112: 258–267. Bibcode:2017MolPE.112..258P. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.03.024. PMID 28363818.
  7. ^ Woodruff, Aaron L.; Schubert, Blaine W. (2019-07-04). "Seasonal denning behavior and population dynamics of the late Pleistocene peccary Platygonus compressus (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from Bat Cave, Missouri". PeerJ. 7: e7161. doi:10.7717/peerj.7161. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6612422. PMID 31308997. S2CID 196610507.
  8. ^ Bradham, Jennifer L.; DeSantis, Larisa R.G.; Jorge, Maria Luisa S.P.; Keuroghlian, Alexine (June 2018). "Dietary variability of extinct tayassuids and modern white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari ) as inferred from dental microwear and stable isotope analysis". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 499: 93–101. Bibcode:2018PPP...499...93B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.03.020. S2CID 134099913.
  9. ^ Wilson, Kurt M.; Hill, Matthew G. (November 2020). "Synthesis and assessment of the flat-headed peccary record in North America". Quaternary Science Reviews. 248: 106601. Bibcode:2020QSRv..24806601W. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106601. S2CID 224865922.
  10. ^ Gasparini, Germán M.; Moreno-Mancilla, Oscar F.; Cómbita, José L. (2021-03-29). "Selenogonus narinoensis Stirton, 1947 (Tayassuidae, Cetartiodactyla, Mammalia): taxonomic status and paleobiogeographic implications". Fossil Record. 24 (1): 65–75. Bibcode:2021FossR..24...65G. doi:10.5194/fr-24-65-2021. hdl:11336/164845. ISSN 2193-0074. S2CID 233421048.
  11. ^ Cocha Verde at Fossilworks.org
  12. ^ Galena at Fossilworks.org
  13. ^ [1] at ResearchGate.org

Bibliography

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  • Fiedal, Stuart (2009). "Sudden Deaths: The Chronology of Terminal Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinction". In Haynes, Gary (ed.). American Megafaunal Extinctions at the End of the Pleistocene. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer. pp. 21–37. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8793-6_2. ISBN 978-1-4020-8792-9.
  • Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.

Further reading

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