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Mesohippus bairdi was named by Othniel Marsh in 1875. Its common name is three toed horse. Mesohippus (Meso-is Greek for middle and hippus-for horse). Mesohippus was common in North America during the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene (40 - 30 million years ago). It had longer legs than its predecessor Eohippus. Its longer legs allowed it to flee predators like Hyaenodon and numravids (false saber-toothed cats), but was often prey to those predators. It did, however, manage to evolve while they went extinct.
It was a three toed horse, but predominantly stood on its middle toe. Its head and face was larger and longer than earlier horses. Its teeth were low crowned with a single gap behind the front teeth (this is where the bit now is placed in modern horses). It had a total of six grinding teeth on each side, top and bottom. Mesohippus browsed on tender twigs and fruit. Its cranial cavity was larger than its predecessor and similar to that of modern horses.
Because of replacement minerals, many of the fossil mammal teeth from the White River Formation of South Dakota will fluoresce. Be sure to check them out in our fluorescent section under the South Dakota page and then by the appropriate page for the species you are interested in. The item number will be the same as the item number in this section, but will be followed by an "F."
Specimen is a maxillary tooth.
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Perissodactyla, Family: Equidae, Sub-family: Anchitherinae, Genus: Mesohippus, Species: bairdi.
Horse - Mesohippus bairdi
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Quantity in Basket:
None
Code: TSDH-106
Price: $10.00
Shipping Weight: 0.20 pounds
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Time: Early Eocene through Early Oligocene, approximately 40 - 30
million years ago.
Location: White River Formation, South Dakota Badlands, USA
Dimensions: 1/2" x 3/4" x 3/4"
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