Barylambda
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Barylambda Temporal range: Middle Paleocene - Early Eocene, 60–50 Ma |
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| B. faberi skeleton, Field Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Cimolesta |
| Suborder: | †Pantodonta |
| Family: | †Barylambdidae |
| Genus: |
†Barylambda Patterson, 1937 |
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Barylambda is an extinct genus of pantodont mammal from the middle to late Paleocene, well known from several finds in North America. Three species of Barylambda are currently recognised. The creature likely lived a life similar of that of a modern tapir, browsing on foliage and soft vegetation.Barylambda seems to have been quite successful for an early pantodont, though eventually it seems to have been replaced in its ecosystem by other pantodonts, such as Coryphodon.
In life, Barylambda probably resembled a large tapir, with a small head and long, well-developed tail and bear-like legs. The length was about 2.5 meters with a weight around 650 kg, about the size of a pony. Barylambda was large even for a pantodont, sheer size probably protecting it from contemporary carnivores.
Like other pantodonts, Barylambda was a heavyset, five-toed plantigrade animal. The vertebrae of the tail were unusually massive; the living animal may have been able to rear up and support itself on the hind legs and tail in order to reach higher for food. Because of the generalized appearance of the teeth, the presence of well-developed canines only in males, the grinding wear and lack of shearing blades on the molars, and the animal's heavy build strongly suggest that it was herbivorous.
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