Mesogaulus

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Mesogaulus
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Mandible of M. ballensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: †Mylagaulidae
Genus: †Mesogaulus
Riggs, 1899
Species
  • M.ballensis (Matthew, 1902)
  • M. paniensis (Riggs, 1899)
Synonyms

Mylagaulus paniensis

Mesogaulus is a genus of mylagaulid rodent from Miocene North America.[1]

Description

[edit]

Mesogaulus is very basal morphologically, lacking horns of later mylagaulids like Ceratogaulus. The genus also has large fourth premolars and hypsodont teeth, though not to the extremes of later mylagaulids. The first molar is elongated, whilst the third is more rotund.[2] Similar to other members of their clade, Mesogaulus has a low, broad skull.[3][4]

Classification

[edit]

Mesogaulus is currently grouped within Mesogaulinae, a potentially paraphyletic subfamily [5] within Mylagaulidae containing the more basal members of the group.[6] It has been suggested historically that Mesogaulus was ancestral to the later mylagaulines [2], though this is not supported by modern phylogenies.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mindat.org". www.mindat.org. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
  2. ^ a b Field Columbian Museum.; Museum, Field Columbian; History, Field Museum of Natural (1899). Publication. Field Columbian Museum. Geological series. Vol. v.1:no.4 (1899). Chicago, U.S.A: The Museum.
  3. ^ Cook, Harold J.; Gregory, Joseph T. (1941). "Mesogaulus praecursor, a New Rodent from the Miocene of Nebraska". Journal of Paleontology. 15 (5): 549–552. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1298811.
  4. ^ Carnegie Museum; Museum, Carnegie; History, Carnegie Museum of Natural (2000). Annals of the Carnegie Museum. Vol. v.69 (2000:Feb.-Nov.). [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute.
  5. ^ Lu, Xiaoyu; Ni, Xijun; Li, Lüzhou; Li, Qiang (2016-08-03). "Two New Mylagaulid Rodents from the Early Miocene of China". PLOS ONE. 11 (8) e0159445. Bibcode:2016PLoSO..1159445L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159445. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4972310. PMID 27486803.
  6. ^ a b Hopkins, Samantha S. B. (2005-08-22). "The evolution of fossoriality and the adaptive role of horns in the Mylagaulidae (Mammalia: Rodentia)". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 272 (1573): 1705–1713. doi:10.1098/rspb.2005.3171. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 1559849. PMID 16087426.