Hipparion
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Automated taxobox". Hipparion is an extinct genus of three-toed, medium-sized equine belonging to the extinct tribe Hipparionini, which lived about 10-5 million years ago.[1][2] While the genus formerly included most hipparionines, the genus is now more narrowly defined as hipparionines from Eurasia spanning the Late Miocene.[2] Hipparion was a mixed-feeder who ate mostly grass, and lived in the savannah biome.[2][3] Hipparion evolved from Cormohipparion,[2] and went extinct due to environmental changes like cooling climates and decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.[4]
Taxonomy
"Hipparion" in sensu lato
The genus "Hipparion" was used for over a century as a form classification to describe over a hundred species of Holartic hipparionines from the Pliocene and Miocene eras that had three toes and isolated protocones. Since then, groups such as the genera Cormohipparion and Neohipparion were proposed to further sort these species, typically based on differences in skull morphology. These species are now known as "Hipparion" in sensu lato (s.l.), or a broad sense.[5]
Hipparion in sensu stricto
Hipparion in sensu stricto (s.s.), or a strict sense, describes the genus of Old World hipparionines from remains found in Eurasia (France, Greece, Turkey, Iran, and China) from the Late Miocene era (~10-5 Ma, or million years ago). The assignment of remains from elsewhere to the genus, such as North America and Africa, is uncertain.[2]
Morphology
Hipparion generally resembled a smaller version of the modern horse, but was tridactyl, or three-toed. It had two vestigial outer toes on each limb in addition to its hoof.[2] In some species, these outer toes were functional.[6] Hipparion was typically medium in size, at about 1.4 m (4.6 ft) tall at the shoulder.[7][8] The estimated body mass of Hipparion depends on the species, but ranges from about 135 to 200 kg (about 298 to 441 lbs). Hipparion had hypsodont dentition (high-crowned teeth) for its premolars and molars, with a crown height of about 60 mm (2.36 in). Hipparion had isolated protocones in the upper molars, meaning a cusp of the teeth called a protocone was not connected to a tooth crest called a protoloph.[2] Hipparion is also characterized by its facial fossa, or deep depression in the skull, located high on the head in front of the orbit.[9][10]
Paleobiology and paleoecology
Hipparion lived in the Old World Savannah Biome, or OWSB, consisting of woodlands to grasslands.[2] Hipparion ate a mixed-feed diet, mostly consisting of grass. This diet is indicated by fossil evidence of microscopic wear patterns of scratches and pits on the enamel of Hipparion's teeth, observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).[3]
Hipparion achieved skeletal maturity and possibly sexual maturity at about 3 years old. Fossils of Hipparion individuals are up to 10 years old at death.[8]
Isotopic analysis indicates that in the late Miocene Batallones 3 fossil site in Spain, the sabertooth cats Promegantereon and Machairodus, the amphicyonids (bear-dogs) Magericyon and Thaumastocyon, the large mustelid Eomellivora and possibly the early omnivorous giant panda relativa Indarctos likely considerably predated upon Hipparion.[11]
Evolution and extinction
Hipparion likely evolved from a species of Cormohipparion during the Late Miocene, about 11.4–11.0 Ma. This species, C. occidentale, came to Eurasia and Africa from North America.[2] The last common ancestor of Hipparion and the modern horse was Merychippus.[12]
In the Old World, Hipparion experienced population decline and extinction down a North to South gradient, as did many other Miocene vertebrates. This trend is believed to be due to environmental changes caused by global cooling and decreasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.[4]
In culture
Bones and teeth of Hipparion were widely historically excavated in China as "dragon bones" to be used as ingredients in Traditional Chinese Medicine, under the belief the represented the remains of Chinese dragons.[13][14]
Species
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References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cirilli, Omar; Pandolfi, Luca; Alba, David M.; Madurell-Malapeira, Joan; Bukhsianidze, Maia; Kordos, Laszlo; Lordkipanidze, David; Rook, Lorenzo; Bernor, Raymond L. (2023-04-15). "The last Plio-Pleistocene hipparions of Western Eurasia. A review with remarks on their taxonomy, paleobiogeography and evolution". Quaternary Science Reviews. 306 107976. Bibcode:2023QSRv..30607976C. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.107976. ISSN 0277-3791.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bernor, Raymond L.; Kaya, Ferhat; Kaakinen, Anu; Saarinen, Juha; Fortelius, Mikael (October 2021). "Old world hipparion evolution, biogeography, climatology and ecology". Earth-Science Reviews. 221 103784. Bibcode:2021ESRv..22103784B. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103784. hdl:10138/335765.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.MacFadden, Bruce J. (2000). "Cenozoic Mammalian Herbivores of the Americas: Reconstructing Ancient Diets and Terrestrial Communities" (PDF). Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 31 (1): 33–59. Bibcode:2000AnRES..31...33M. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.31.1.33.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.van der Made, Jan; Boulaghraief, Kamel; Chelli-Cheheb, Razika; Cáceres, Isabel; Harichane, Zoheir; Sahnouni, Mohamed (Jan 28, 2022). "The last North African hipparions – hipparion decline and extinction follows a common pattern". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie. 303 (1): 39–87. Bibcode:2022NJGPA.303...39V. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2022/1037 – via Schweizerbart Science Publishers.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.MacFadden, Bruce J. (August 1980). "The Miocene horse Hipparion from North America and from the type locality in Southern France". Palaeontology. 23 (3): 617–635 – via The Paleontological Association.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Williams, Wendy (2015). The Horse. Toronto, Canada: Harper Collins. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-4434-1786-0.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 257. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Martinez-Maza, Cayetana; Alberdi, Maria Teresa; Nieto-Diaz, Manuel; Prado, José Luis (2014-08-06). "Life-History Traits of the Miocene Hipparion concudense (Spain) Inferred from Bone Histological Structure". PLOS ONE. 9 (8) e103708. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9j3708M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103708. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4123897. PMID 25098950.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bernor, Raymond L.; Kovar-Eder, Johanna; Lipscomb, Diana; Rögl, Fred; Sen, Sevket; Tobien, Heinz (1988-12-14). "Systematic, stratigraphic, and paleoenvironmental contexts of first-appearing Hipparion in the Vienna Basin, Austria". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 8 (4): 427–452. Bibcode:1988JVPal...8..427B. doi:10.1080/02724634.1988.10011729. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Carroll, Robert L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company. p. 535. ISBN 0-716-71822-7.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Domingo, M. Soledad; Domingo, Laura; Abella, Juan; Valenciano, Alberto; Badgley, Catherine; Morales, Jorge (August 2016). "Feeding ecology and habitat preferences of top predators from two Miocene carnivore-rich assemblages". Paleobiology. 42 (3): 489–507. Bibcode:2016Pbio...42..489D. doi:10.1017/pab.2015.50. hdl:10261/136983. ISSN 0094-8373.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cantalapiedra, J. L.; Prado, J. L.; Hernández Fernández, M.; Alberdi, M. T. (2017-02-10). "Decoupled ecomorphological evolution and diversification in Neogene-Quaternary horses". Science. 355 (6325): 627–630. Bibcode:2017Sci...355..627C. doi:10.1126/science.aag1772. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 28183978.
- ^ von Koenigswald, G. H. R. (1952). Gigantopithecus blacki von Koenigswald, a giant fossil hominoid from the Pleistocene of southern China. Anthropological papers of the AMNH; v. 43, pt. 4.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Witton, Mark (2021-03-26). "Mark P. Witton's Blog: Dinosaur fossils and Chinese dragons: ancient association or modern wishful thinking?". Mark P. Witton's Blog. Retrieved 2026-04-12.
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