Merycoidodon

Merycoidodon Temporal range: Late Eocene–Late Oligocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Merycoidodon skeleton at Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Merycoidodontidae
Subfamily:	†Merycoidodontinae
Genus:	†Merycoidodon Leidy, 1848
Type species
†Merycoidodon culbertsoni
Subgenera and Species
†Merycoidodon †M. (?M.) presidioensis †M. (M.) culbertsoni †Otarohyus †M. (O.) bullatus †M. (O.) major unassigned †M. dunagani
Synonyms
†Blickohyus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968 †Genetochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968 †Oreodon Leidy, 1851 †Otionohyus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968 †Paramerycoidodon Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968 †Prodesmatochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1954 †Promesoreodon Schultz and Falkenbach, 1949 †Subdesmatochoerus Schultz and Falkenbach, 1954

†Merycoidodon

†Otarohyus

unassigned

Merycoidodon ("ruminating teeth") is an extinct genus of terrestrial herbivore of the family Merycoidodontidae, subfamily Merycoidodontinae (oreodont), more popularly known by the name Oreodon ("hillock teeth") endemic to North America during the Late Eocene-Early Miocene subepochs (38—16.3 mya) existing for approximately 21.7 million years.

Merycoidodon was named by Leidy (1848). Its type is Merycoidodon culbertsoni. It was considered a nomen nudum by Cope (1884); it was considered a nomen dubium by Sinclair (1924); it was considered a nomen vanum by Lander (1998). It was assigned to Merycoidodontidae by Joseph Leidy (1848), Thorpe (1937), Scott (1940), Galbreath (1953), Toohey (1959) and Stevens and Stevens (1996).

Most researchers in paleobiology and paleontology, however, now use the antecedent genus Merycoidodon to refer to this Oligocene epoch oreodont. The name "Oreodon" is actually a synonym of the fish genus Orodus, and is, thus, not a valid scientific name.

Taxonomically speaking, Merycoidodon (a.k.a. Oreodon) belongs to the family "Merycoidodontidae" (once known as "Oreodontidae"), a group of artiodactyls related to camels that were endemic to North America. Its ancestors date back to the Eocene and its last descendants are known from the Pliocene, so that oreodonts, broadly speaking, lived throughout the whole of the Tertiary era.

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