# Mylohyus

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

'''''Mylohyus''''' is an [extinct](/source/Extinction) [genus](/source/genus) of [peccary](/source/peccary) found in [North](/source/North_America) and [Central America](/source/Central_America). It first [evolved](/source/Evolution) during the [Late Miocene](/source/Late_Miocene) and became extinct at the end of the [Pleistocene](/source/Pleistocene), around 12,000 years ago, during the [Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction](/source/Late_Pleistocene_megafaunal_extinction).

Six [species](/source/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](/source/Rancholabrean) [North American land mammal age](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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 [dewclaw](/source/dewclaw)s.<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](/source/Appalachia) and [Florida](/source/Florida). Most fossil localities containing this species are found in the southern and south-eastern U.S., from west [Texas](/source/Texas) to Florida, and north to [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania).  ''Mylohyus nasutus'', if considered to be a different species than ''[M. fossilis](/source/Mylohyus_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](/source/Cumberland_Bone_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](/source/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 [C<sub>3</sub>](/source/C3_carbon_fixation) [browser](/source/Browsing_(herbivory)) during the [Blancan](/source/Blancan) to an increasing consumption of [C<sub>4</sub>](/source/C4_carbon_fixation) vegetation during the [Irvingtonian](/source/Irvingtonian), with a relatively even mixture of C<sub>3</sub> and C<sub>4</sub> plants by the time of the [Rancholabrean](/source/Rancholabrean). Suggestions have been made based on the textural patterns of its [dental microwear](/source/dental_microwear) that it was [frugivorous](/source/Frugivore) and also consumed hard browse like [twigs](/source/Twig).<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](/source/Palaeogeography%2C_Palaeoclimatology%2C_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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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](/source/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)]

{{Suina|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6947750|from2=Q30693211}}

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

{{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mylohyus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylohyus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mylohyus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.