Postcranial Functional Morphology of Hyracotherium (Equidae, Perissodactyla) and Locomotion in the Earliest Horses

Journal of Mammalian Evolution

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 1-32

  Wood, Aaron R ^a   Bebej, Ryan M ^a   Manz, Carly L ^b   Begun, Dana L ^a   Gingerich, Philip D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA   (United States)

Author keywords

Hyracotherium; Locomotory evolution; Paleogene equids; Postcranial morphology; Vertebrae

Indexed keywords

EQUIDAE; HYRACOTHERIUM; MESOHIPPUS; OROHIPPUS; PERISSODACTYLA;

EID: 78651486891     PISSN: 10647554     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10914-010-9145-7     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Biewener AA (1989) Scaling body support in mammals: limb posture and muscle mechanics. Science 245: 45-48.
2. Budras KD (2009) Anatomy of the Horse. Schlutersche, Germany.
3. Camp CL, Smith N (1942) Phylogeny and functions of the digital ligaments of the horse. Mem Univ Calif 13: 69-124.
4. Clauss M, Frey R, Kiefer B, Lechner-Doll M, Loehlein W, Polster C, Rossner GE, Streich WJ (2003) The maximum attainable body size of herbivorous mammals: morphophysiological constraints on foregut and adaptations of hindgut fermenters. Oecologia 136: 14-27.
5. Cope ED (1884) The Vertebrata of the Tertiary formations of the west. Report US Geol Survey Territories 3: 1-1009.
6. Evans HE (1993) Miller's Anatomy of the Dog. Saunders, Philadelphia.
7. Fife MM, Bailey CL, Lee DV, Carrier DR (2001) Function of the oblique hypaxial muscles in trotting dogs. J Exp Biol 204: 2371-2381.
8. Franzen JL (2010) The Rise of Horses: 55 million Years of Evolution. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
9. Froehlich DJ (1999) Phylogenetic systematics of basal perissodactyls. J Vertebr Paleontol 19: 140-159.
10. Froehlich DJ (2002) Quo vadis eohippus? The systematic and taxonomy of the early Eocene equids (Perissodactyla). Zool J Linn Soc 134: 141-256.
11. Gingerich PD (1981) Variation, sexual dimorphism, and social structure in the early Eocene horse Hyracotherium (Mammalia, Perissodactyla). Paleobiology 7: 443-455.
12. Gingerich PD (2003) Mammalian responses to climate change at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: Polecat Bench record in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. In: Gingerich PD, Schmitz B, Thomas E, Wing SL (eds) Causes and Consequences of Globally Warm Climates in the Early Paleogene. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 369: 463-478.
13. Gingerich PD (2006) Environment and evolution through the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. Trends Ecol Evol 21: 246-253.
14. Gradstein FM, Ogg JG, Smith AG (2005) A Geologic Time Scale 2004. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
15. Hildebrand M (1959) Motions of the running cheetah and horse. J Mammal 40: 481-495.
16. Holbrook LT (2001) Comparative osteology of early Tertiary tapiromorphs (Mammalia, Perissodactyla). Zool J Linn Soc 132: 1-54.
17. Hooker JJ (1994) The beginning of the equoid radiation. Zool J Linn Soc 112: 29-63.
18. Hussain ST (1975) Evolutionary and functional anatomy of the pelvic limb in fossil and recent Equidae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia). Anat Histol Embryol 4: 179-222.
19. Janis CM (1993) Tertiary mammal evolution in the context of changing climates, vegetation, and tectonic events. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 24: 467-500.
20. Janis CM, Wilhelm PB (1993) Were there mammalian pursuit predators in the Tertiary? Dances with wolf avatars. J Mammal Evol 1: 103-125.
21. Jenkins FA, McClearn D (1984) Mechanisms of hind foot reversal in climbing mammals. J Morphol 182: 197-219.
22. Kappelman J (1988) Morphology and locomotor adaptations of the bovid femur in relation to habitat. J Morphol 198: 119-130.
23. Kitts DB (1956) American Hyracotherium (Perissodactyla, Equidae). Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 110: 1-60.
24. Kitts DB (1957) A revision of the genus Orohippus (Perissodactyla, Equidae). Am Mus Novitates 1864: 1-40.
25. Licka TF, Peham C, Frey A (2004) Electromyographic activity of the longissimus dorsi muscles in horses during trotting on a treadmill. Am J Vet Res 65: 155-158.
26. MacFadden BJ (1986) Fossil horses from "Eohippus" (Hyracotherium) to Equus: scaling, Cope's law, and the evolution of body size. Paleobiology 12: 355-369.
27. MacFadden BJ (1992) Fossil Horses: Systematics, Paleobiology, and Evolution of the Family Equidae. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
28. Miyata K (ed) (2008) Extinction of Dinosaurs and Rise of New Rulers. Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum, Japan.
29. Owen R (1841) Descriptions of the fossil remains of a mammal (Hyracotherium leporinum) and of a bird (Lithornis vulturinus) from the London Clay. Trans Geol Soc Lond 6: 203-208.
30. Radinsky L (1966) The adaptive radiation of the phenacodontid condylarths and the origin of the Perissodactyla. Evolution 20: 408-417.
31. Rose KD (1996) Skeleton of early Eocene Homogalax and the origin of Perissodactyla. Palaeovertebrata 25: 243-260.
32. Rose KD (2006) The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
33. Schilling N, Carrier DR (2009) Function of the epaxial muscles during trotting. J Exp Biol 212: 1053-1063.
34. Schilling N, Fischbein T, Yang EP, Carrier DR (2009) Function of the extrinsic hindlimb muscles in trotting dogs. J Exp Biol 212: 1036-1052.
35. Scott WB (1891) On the osteology of Mesohippus and Leptomeryx with observations on the modes and factors of evolution in the Mammalia. J Morphol 5: 301-406.
36. Secord R, Wing SL, Chew A (2008) Stable isotopes in early Eocene mammals as indicators of forest canopy structure and resource partitioning. Paleobiology 34: 282-300.
37. Slijper EJ (1946) Comparative biologic-anatomical investigations on the vertebral column and spinal musculature of mammals. Verh Konink Nederland Akad Wetenschap, Twede Sectie 42: 1-128.
38. Solounias N, Semprebon G (2002) Advances in the reconstruction of ungulate ecomorphology with application to early fossil equids. Am Mus Novitates 3366: 1-49.
39. Steudel K (1990) The work and energetic cost of locomotion. I. The effects of limb mass distribution in quadrupeds. J Exp Biol 154: 273-285.
40. Taylor StCS, Murray JI (1987) Genetic aspects of mammalian survival and growth in relation to body size. In: Hacker JB, Ternouth JH (eds) The Nutrition of Herbivores. Academic Press, Orlando, pp 487-533.
41. Walter RM, Carrier DR (2007) Ground forces applied by galloping dogs. J Exp Biol 210: 208-216.
42. Walter RM, Carrier DR (2009) Rapid acceleration in dogs: ground forces and body posture dynamics. J Exp Biol 212: 1930-1939.
43. Woodburne MO, Gunnell GF, Stucky RK (2009) Land mammal faunas of North America rise and fall during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum. Denver Mus Nat Sci Ann 1: 1-74.
44. Zhou X, Sanders WJ, Gingerich PD (1992) Functional and behavioral implications of the vertebral structure in Pachyaena ossifraga (Mammalia, Mesonychia). Contrib Mus Paleontol Univ Mich 28: 289-319.