Pachyrukhos

Pachyrukhos is an extinct genus of mammals from the Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene (Santacrucian-Friasian in the SALMA classification) of Argentina (Collón Curá, Sarmiento and Santa Cruz Formations) and Chile (Río Frías Formation), South America.[1]

Pachyrukhos
Temporal range: Late Oligocene-Mid Miocene (Santacrucian-Friasian)
~17.5–15.5 Ma
↓
Restoration of Cladosictis lustratus attacking Pachyrukhos moyani
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
†Notoungulata
Suborder:
†Hegetotheria
Family:
†Hegetotheriidae
Genus:
†Pachyrukhos

Species
  • P. absis Ameghino 1889
  • P. elongatus Moreno 1888
  • P. moyani Ameghino 1885
  • P. naevius Ameghino 1889
  • P. politus Ameghino 1902
  • P. teres Ameghino 1889
  • P. trivius Ameghino 1889
Synonyms

Description

It was about 30 centimetres (0.98 ft) long and closely resembled a rabbit, with a short tail and long hind feet. Pachyrukhos was probably also able to hop, and it had a rabbit-like skull with teeth adapted for eating nuts and tough plants. The complexity of its hearing apparatus in the skull suggests that its hearing would have been very good, and that it probably had large ears. It also had large eyes, suggesting that it may have been nocturnal. These similarities are the result of convergent evolution, since, while quite unrelated to modern rabbits, Pachyrukhos filled the same ecological niche.[2]

References
  1. Pachyrukhos at Fossilworks.org
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 251. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.


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