Plesippus

Plesippus is a genus of extinct horse from the Pleistocene of North America. Although commonly seen as a subgenus of Equus recent cladistic analysis considers it a distinct genus.

Plesippus

NPS photo · Public Domain · via Wikidata/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
grazer, browserPBDB, for Equinae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Equinae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 0 of 112 occurrencesPliocene — about 60 of 112 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 52 of 112 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 112 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.7–4.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 6 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 6 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.58 Mya129 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

112 occurrences of Plesippus on record. 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

112 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

20 formations

Palm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°WBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WBlanco — 33.77°N, 101.28°WBlanco — 33.81°N, 101.21°WCamp Rice — 32.00°N, 106.70°WCamp Rice — 31.50°N, 105.20°WSan Timoteo — 33.90°N, 117.00°WSan Diego — 32.62°N, 117.00°WGlenns Ferry — 43.60°N, 116.80°WGlenns Ferry — 42.82°N, 114.94°WBallard — 37.20°N, 100.30°WPalomas — 34.00°N, 107.00°WPalomas — 33.10°N, 107.30°WLove — 31.50°N, 105.20°WRingold — 47.00°N, 118.50°WRingold — 46.30°N, 119.10°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WTule — 34.50°N, 101.30°WTule — 34.51°N, 101.41°WSt. David — 32.00°N, 110.20°WGila Conglomerate — 32.70°N, 109.00°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WPanaca — 37.80°N, 114.30°WGoleta — 19.70°N, 101.12°WHunter Creek Sandstone — 39.51°N, 119.96°WAlturas — 41.49°N, 120.65°W

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The named rock units Plesippus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 62 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

521 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 111 sites for Plesippus, 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

57 references

Each of the 112 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. 45 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 Plesippus

Credit
NPS photo
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Equus (plesippus) simplicidens · UF:UF/TRO:32072

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 timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Matthew 1924)