Haringtonhippus

Haringtonhippus
Temporal range: ~ Blancan to Rancholabrean
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Haringtonhippus
Heintzman et al., 2017
Species:
H. francisci
Binomial name
Haringtonhippus francisci
Hay, 1915
Synonyms
  • Equus francisci Hay, 1915
  • Equus achates
  • Equus quinni
  • Equus cedralensis

Haringtonhippus is an extinct genus of equine from the Pleistocene of North America The genus is monospecific, consisting of the species H. francisci, initially described in 1915 by Oliver Perry Hay as Equus francisci. Members of the genus are often referred to as stilt-legged horses, in reference to their slender distal limb bones, in contrast with those of contemporary "stout legged" caballine true horses.

Haringtonhippus fossils have only been discovered in North America. Specimens have been found from southern Mexico to southern South Dakota and in Alberta, Canada, at sites such as Gypsum Cave and Natural Trap Cave, as well as eastern Beringia in Yukon A later study found that Equus cedralensis from the Late Pleistocene of Mexico also belonged to this species. The earliest species of the lineage appeared in North America during the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene, around 2 to 3 Ma. It became extinct at the end of the Late Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago as part of the end-Pleistocene extinctions, along with most other large mammals in the Americas.

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