Description

Pseudhipparion sp.
Late Miocene (Clarendonian)
Alluvial Deposits
Cherry County, Nebraska, USA
25mm upper molar of an early horse.

Mammal. Equidae. Perissodactyl. hipparion.

The evolution of the horse has traditionally been laid out in a rather linear way. However, the apparent progression from a cat-sized, multi-toed, browser of tropical forests to a galloping, one-toed, stallion of the plains is less of a family tree and more of a bush of side branches and offshoots.

Pseudhipparion is a genus of horses from the Middle Miocene to Early Pliocene of North America. The various species averaged out to about the size of a Shetland Pony. It was among the three-toed grazing horses generally referred to as “hipparions” and it lived across the time of the group’s greatest diversity.

This specimen is an upper molar and is an interesting specimen and great opportunity for a mammal collector to fill out a horse collection a little more. Miocene horse teeth from North America were easier to get from dealers back in the 90’s and fewer people hunt for them these days. This one was identified by a friend who specializes in mammal fossils – horses in particular.