Xenorhinotherium Temporal range: |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | †Litopterna |
Family: | Macraucheniidae |
Genus: | Xenorhinotherium |
Species: | X. bahiensis |
Binomial name | |
Xenorhinotherium bahiensis Cartelle & Lessa, 1988 |
Xenorhinotherium bahiensis is an extinct Brazilian macraucheniid closely related to Macrauchenia of Patagonia.
Some authors place X. bahiensis in the genus Macrauchenia, while still others consider it the same species as M. patachonica. The genus name Xenorhinotherium means "Strange-Nosed Beast" and bahiensis refers to the Brazilian state of Bahia, where its fossils are found.
Like other macraucheniids, X. bahiensis had a small proboscis, or trunk, and three toes on each foot. This animal was an herbivore that averaged around five meters in length, and was approximately three meters in height. In life, X. bahiensis probably looked very much like a larger version of Macrauchenia, that is, vaguely like a very tall, humpless camel with a small, tapir-like trunk.
Fossils of Xenorhinotherium, dating from the Epoch, have been found in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais in modern Brazil, and also in Venezuela, in the localities of Muaco, Taima Taima and Cuenca del Lago.