Pediomeryx

Pediomeryx; Temporal range: Late Miocene–Early Pliocene; ~10.3–4.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Dromomerycidae
Tribe:	†Cranioceratini
Genus:	†Pediomeryx; Stirton, 1936
Species
	P. figginsi; P. hamiltoni; P. hemphillensis; P. ruminalis;
	Range of Pediomeryx based on fossil distribution

Pediomeryx is an extinct genus of artiodactyl, of the family Dromomerycidae, endemic to North America. It lived during the Late Miocene Early Pliocene 10.3—4.9 Ma, existing for approximately 5 million years.^[1] Fossils have been recovered from the Midway Site in Florida, the Gray Fossil Site in northeast Tennessee, several sites in Nebraska and Wyoming, Saskatchewan, and Boron, California.

Description

They were comparable in size to red deer, with most specimens weighing 100–200 kg but surpassing 400 kg in the case of P. figginsi.^[2]

Palaeoecology

Dental mesowear and enamel δ¹³C from the Optima site in Oklahoma suggest that P. hemphillensis was a mixed feeder that predominantly fed on C₃ plants, while at the Coffee Ranch site in Texas, about a fifth of the individuals were found to be non-strict grazers and the rest mixed feeders.^[3]

References

^ Pediomeryx at fossilworks
^ David Lambert, W. (2006). "Functional Convergence of Ecosystems: Evidence from Body Mass Distributions of North American Late Miocene Mammal Faunas". Ecosystems. 9 (9): 97–118. Bibcode:2006Ecosy...9...97L. doi:10.1007/s10021-005-0076-8. Retrieved 9 September 2025 – via ResearchGate.
^ Frederickson, J. A.; Cohen, J. E.; Engel, M. H.; Hunt, T. C.; Wilbert, G. A.; Castaneda, O. S.; Czaplewski, N. J. (2022). "The paleoecology of the Late Miocene mammals from the Optima Local Fauna of Oklahoma, USA". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 67 (1). doi:10.4202/app.00941.2021. ISSN 0567-7920. Retrieved 9 September 2025 – via Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

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[1] Pediomeryx at fossilworks

[2] David Lambert, W. (2006). "Functional Convergence of Ecosystems: Evidence from Body Mass Distributions of North American Late Miocene Mammal Faunas". Ecosystems. 9 (9): 97–118. Bibcode:2006Ecosy...9...97L. doi:10.1007/s10021-005-0076-8. Retrieved 9 September 2025 – via ResearchGate.

[3] Frederickson, J. A.; Cohen, J. E.; Engel, M. H.; Hunt, T. C.; Wilbert, G. A.; Castaneda, O. S.; Czaplewski, N. J. (2022). "The paleoecology of the Late Miocene mammals from the Optima Local Fauna of Oklahoma, USA". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 67 (1). doi:10.4202/app.00941.2021. ISSN 0567-7920. Retrieved 9 September 2025 – via Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

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