Mylohyus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of even-toed ungulate mammals}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Pliocene - Early Holocene, {{fossil range|5|0.009}} | image = Mylohyus nasutus.jpg | image_caption = ''M. nasutus, Texas Science & Natural History Museum'' | taxon = Mylohyus | authority = Cope, 1869 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *''M. elmorei'' *''M. floridanus'' *''M. fossilis'' *''M. gidleyi'' *''M. nasutus'' (long-nosed peccary) }}

'''''Mylohyus''''' is an extinct genus of peccary found in North and Central America. It first evolved during the Late Miocene and became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, around 12,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction.

Six species were known, the most famous being ''Mylohyus nasutus'', also known as the '''long-nosed peccary'''. It went extinct at the end of the Rancholabrean North American land mammal age.<ref name=nye2007>{{cite thesis|last1=Nye|first1=April Season|title=Pleistocene Peccaries from Guy Wilson Cave, Sullivan County, Tennessee|work=Electronic Theses and Dissertations |year=2007|institution=East Tennessee State University|degree=MS|id=Paper 2115|url=http://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2115|access-date=18 July 2024}}</ref>{{rp|21}} The genus was slightly larger-bodied than any modern peccaries, with an estimated mass of {{convert|68|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>[https://paleobiodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=42432&is_real_user=1# The Paleobiology Database: ''Mylohyus'']</ref>

== Taxonomy == The species ''Mylohyus elmorei'', initially classified under the genus ''Prosthennops'', was moved to the genus ''Mylohyus'' in 1984.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wright |first1=David B. |last2=Webb |first2=S. David |date=January 1984 |title=Primitive Mylohyus (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) from the late Hemphillian Bone Valley of Florida |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724634.1984.10011969 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=152–159 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1984.10011969 |issn=0272-4634 |access-date=21 November 2025 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Description == [[File:Tellus Mylohyus.jpg|left|thumb|Jaw, humerus and tooth from ''M. nasutus'' at the Tellus Science Museum]] The long-nosed peccary was about {{convert|0.75|m|ft}} in height and {{convert|67|kg|lbs}} in weight.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mendoza|first1=M.|last2=Janis|first2=C. M.|last3=Palmqvist|first3=P.|year=2006|title=Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression|journal=Journal of Zoology|volume=270|issue=1|pages=90–101|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00094.x}}</ref> It had an elongated face, long, thin legs and dewclaws.<ref name=nye2007/>{{rp|21}}

== Habitat and distribution == During the last glacial, long-nosed peccaries, ''sensu lato'', were distributed throughout southeastern North America with concentrations in Appalachia and Florida. Most fossil localities containing this species are found in the southern and south-eastern U.S., from west Texas to Florida, and north to Pennsylvania. ''Mylohyus nasutus'', if considered to be a different species than ''M. fossilis'', occupied the western part of this range, but their classification as separate species is disputed.<ref name=nye2007/>{{rp|22-23}} According to Lundelius, these species or forms co-occur in the Cumberland Cave deposits in Maryland.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lundelius, Jr.|first1=E.L.|year=1961|title=''Mylohyus nasutus'': Long-nosed Peccary of the Texas Pleistocene|journal=Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum|volume=1|url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/items/96a3d0dd-7a10-48ae-b6c8-04d561a90b5c/full|via=Texas ScholarWorks, The University of Texas at Austin|access-date=18 July 2024}}</ref>{{rp|34}}

== Palaeobiology ==

=== Social behaviour === Unlike the flat-headed peccary, ''Platygonus compressus'', the long-nosed peccary was probably a solitary animal and did not frequent caves.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tankersley|first1=Kenneth B.|year=2011|title=Evaluating the Co-occurrence of ''Platygonus compressus'' and ''Mylohyus nasutus'' at Sheriden Cave, Wyandot County, Ohio|journal=Current Research in the Pleistocene|volume=28|pages=185–187|url=https://liberalarts.tamu.edu/csfa/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/07/CRP-28-2011.pdf|access-date=18 July 2024|via=Pleistocene Archives, Center for the Study of the First Americans, College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University}}</ref>

=== Palaeoecology === Stable isotopic and anatomical studies have suggested that the diet of ''Mylohyus'' varied over geological time, from being primarily a C3 browser during the Blancan to an increasing consumption of C4 vegetation during the Irvingtonian, with a relatively even mixture of C3 and C4 plants by the time of the Rancholabrean. Suggestions have been made based on the textural patterns of its dental microwear that it was frugivorous and also consumed hard browse like twigs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bradham |first1=Jennifer L. |last2=DeSantis |first2=Larisa R. G. |last3=Jorge |first3=Maria Luisa S. P. |last4=Keuroghlian |first4=Alexine |date=15 June 2018 |title=Dietary variability of extinct tayassuids and modern white-lipped peccaries ( Tayassu pecari ) as inferred from dental microwear and stable isotope analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018217309392 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=499 |pages=93–101 |bibcode=2018PPP...499...93B |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.03.020 |s2cid=134099913 |url-access=subscription |access-date=6 February 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> ''Mylohyus'' was able to coexist with close phylogenetic relatives because of efficient niche partitioning between it and other genera of peccaries.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=DeSantis |first1=Larisa R. G. |last2=Feranec |first2=Robert S. |last3=MacFadden |first3=Bruce J. |date=3 June 2009 |editor-last=Moen |editor-first=Jon |title=Effects of Global Warming on Ancient Mammalian Communities and Their Environments |journal=PLoS ONE |language=en |volume=4 |issue=6 |bibcode=2009PLoSO...4.5750D |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0005750 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=2684586 |pmid=19492043 |doi-access=free |article-number=e5750}}</ref> The presence of the species ''M. elmorei'' in the Gray Fossil Site has been invoked as evidence of the palaeoenvironment being highly forested due to the association of the species with forests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Doughty |first1=Evan M. |last2=Wallace |first2=Steven C. |last3=Schubert |first3=Blaine W. |last4=Lyon |first4=Lauren M. |date=30 November 2018 |title=First occurrence of the enigmatic peccaries Mylohyus elmorei and Prosthennops serus from the Appalachians: latest Hemphillian to Early Blancan of Gray Fossil Site, Tennessee |journal=PeerJ |language=en |volume=6 |article-number=e5926 |doi=10.7717/peerj.5926 |doi-access=free |issn=2167-8359 |pmc=6276594 |pmid=30533292 }}</ref>

==Sources== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://iceage.museum.state.il.us/mammals/long-nosed-peccary-0 Explore the Ice Age Midwest - Long-nosed Peccary] *[http://zipcodezoo.com/index.php/Mylohyus Zipcodezoo - ''Mylohyus'' (Genus)]

Category:Pliocene Artiodactyla Category:Pliocene mammals of North America Category:Pleistocene Artiodactyla Category:Pleistocene mammals of North America Category:Pliocene first appearances Category:Holocene extinctions Category:Fossil taxa described in 1869 Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Category:Prehistoric Artiodactyla genera