Misplaced Pages

Blastomeryx

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Blastomeryx gemmifer) Extinct genus of deer

Blastomeryx
Temporal range: Early Miocene–Middle Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeletal econstruction
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Moschidae
Subfamily: †Blastomerycinae
Genus: †Blastomeryx
Cope, 1877
Species
  • B. cursor Cook 1934
  • B. gemmifer Cope 1874
  • B. vigoratus Hay 1924
Synonyms
  • B. elegans
  • B. francesca
  • B. medius
  • B. mollis
  • B. pristinus
  • B. tantillus

Blastomeryx is an extinct genus of musk deer endemic to North America. It lived during the Miocene epoch 20.4—10.3 mya, existing for approximately 10 million years. There may be only one species, Blastomeryx gemmifer.

Blastomeryx was 75 centimetres (30 in) long and looked like a modern chevrotain. Its canines were elongated into tusks which it probably used to uproot plants and fend off predators. While Blastomeryx (as well as modern musk deer) lacked antlers, a Middle Miocene species had bony knobs on its skull, which have been interpreted as incipient horns.

References

  1. Blastomeryx at fossilworks
  2. Prothero, 2007 (p. 221-226)
  3. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 273. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
Taxon identifiers
Blastomeryx
Categories: