Ectocion (sometimes Ectocyon) is an extinct genus of placental mammals of the family Phenacodontidae. The genus was earlier classified as Gidleyina (Simpson 1935) and Prosthecion (Patterson and West 1973)[3] It reached 6 to 12 kg and was similar in size and morphology to Copecion. Both these herbivorous ungulates likely occupied similar ecological niches.[4]
| Ectocion Temporal range: Paleocene - Eocene
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|---|---|
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| Ectocion osbornianus | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Family: | †Phenacodontidae |
| Genus: | †Ectocion Cope, 1882 |
| Species | |
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Paleocene specimens of these hoofed, ground-dwelling herbivores have been found in Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan) and the United States (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming). Eocene specimens have been found in Mexico and the United States (Colorado, Mississippi, Wyoming).[3]
One of the dramatic effects of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was some animals evolving smaller bodies. Fossilized Ectocion jaw bones show that this genus was smaller during (E. parvus, 55.5 mya) the PETM than its relatives before (E. osbornianus, 55.6 mya) and after (E. osbornianus, 55.3 mya) the brief climatic peak period.[5]
References edit
- ^ Beard, K. C.; Dawson, M. R. (2009). "Early Wasatchian Mammals of the Red Hot Local Fauna, Uppermost Tuscahoma Formation, Lauderdale County, Mississippi". Annals of Carnegie Museum. 78 (3): 193–243. doi:10.2992/007.078.0301. S2CID 86281527.
- ^ Montellano-Ballesteros, M.; Fox, R. C.; Scott, C. S. (2021). "A new, "dwarfed" species of the phenacodontid "condylarth" Ectocion from the late Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, and its implications". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 58 (11): 1155–1169. doi:10.1139/cjes-2019-0234. hdl:1807/107869.
- ^ a b Ectocion in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.
- ^ Andrew Schwartz (November 2023). "Investigating Niche Overlap in Two Sympatric Phenacodonts using Dental Microwear Texture Analysis". 83rd Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology at Cincinnati, Ohio.
- ^ Gingerich, Phil (2009). "Big Little Big". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
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