Dinohippus

Dinohippus is an extinct equid which was endemic to North America from the late Hemphillian stage of the Miocene through the Zanclean stage of the Pliocene and in existence for approximately 6.7 million years. Fossils are widespread throughout North America, being found at more than 30 sites from Florida to Alberta and from Mexico all the way down to Panama. The majority of fossils of Dinohippus have been unearthed in the Western United States in Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and California.

Dinohippus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EquiniPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Equinae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 4.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 9.4 Mya to 4.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 1.4 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 150 occurrencesMiocene — about 129 of 150 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 19 of 150 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 150 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences21–21 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 4 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–10.0 Mya — about 5 occurrences10.0–9.2 Mya — about 8 occurrences9.2–8.4 Mya — about 19 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 19 occurrences7.7–6.9 Mya — about 19 occurrences6.9–6.2 Mya — about 19 occurrences6.2–5.4 Mya — about 19 occurrences5.4–4.7 Mya — about 17 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.2–2.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.4–1.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.7–900 ka Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.4 Mya4.7 Mya23.5 Mya900 ka

150 occurrences of Dinohippus on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

150 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

42 formations

Rancho Viejo Beds — 21.08°N, 100.67°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.20°N, 100.70°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.00°N, 100.70°WPeace River — 27.00°N, 82.20°WPeace River — 27.68°N, 81.95°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WPeace River — 27.81°N, 81.91°WHunter Creek Sandstone — 39.53°N, 119.93°WHunter Creek Sandstone — 39.51°N, 119.96°WOgallala — 36.70°N, 101.40°WOgallala — 35.70°N, 102.30°WOgallala — 38.90°N, 101.70°WOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WOgallala — 35.53°N, 99.71°W"Coal Valley" — 39.00°N, 119.20°WTruckee — 39.25°N, 118.85°WDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WSnake Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WBone Valley — 27.90°N, 81.80°WBone Valley — 27.50°N, 82.50°WSixmile Creek — 45.20°N, 112.00°WSixmile Creek — 46.00°N, 112.00°WPinole Tuff — 38.01°N, 122.31°WPinole Tuff — 37.97°N, 122.25°WAsh Hollow — 40.50°N, 100.50°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WGoodnight Beds — 35.00°N, 101.30°WDrewsey — 42.70°N, 118.70°WPanaca — 37.80°N, 114.30°WCaliente — 35.10°N, 120.00°WPalm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WOro Loma — 36.52°N, 120.54°WChalk Hills — 42.77°N, 115.92°WChalk Hills — 42.73°N, 115.87°WAlachua — 29.10°N, 82.30°WChalk Butte — 43.60°N, 117.50°WRattlesnake — 44.50°N, 119.30°WThousand Creek — 41.10°N, 117.80°WGreen Valley — 37.81°N, 121.91°W

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The named rock units Dinohippus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 18 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 60 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dinohippus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Dinohippus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

654 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 146 sites for Dinohippus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

60 references

Each of the 150 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 48 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Dinohippus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEquini through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Quinn 1955