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Equus scotti is a true caballine horse that is more closely related to modern horses than to zebras and asses. Equus scotti may be synonymous with Equus lambei , another generally smaller horse known from the Pleistocene of North America, but this is uncertain. [ 3 ]
The evolution of the horse, a mammal of the family Equidae, occurred over a geologic time scale of 50 million years, transforming the small, dog-sized, [1] forest-dwelling Eohippus into the modern horse. Paleozoologists have been able to piece together a more complete outline of the evolutionary lineage of the modern horse than of any other animal.
At the other extreme, an early member of the order, the prehistoric horse Eohippus, had a withers height of only 30 to 60 cm (12 to 24 in). [5] Apart from dwarf varieties of the domestic horse and donkey, living perissodactyls reach a body length of 180–420 cm (71–165 in) and a weight of 150 to 4,500 kg (330 to 9,920 lb). [6]
Permafrost mummies provide crucial insights into the physiology and life histories of Pleistocene organisms, due to how well the preservation process keeps the specimens from decomposing. The constant presence of permafrost is able to preserve the soft tissues of organisms through a process similar to freeze-drying. [ 1 ]
DNA studies on American horse remains found frozen into permafrost have shown that several of the supposed American species, as well as the European Equus ferus, are actually a single highly-variable widespread species, as if the evolutionary process of speciation was persistently being frustrated by large herds moving long distances and mixing.
Remains attributed to the species display a considerable range of morphological variability. [9] The species had a small body size, with adult individuals estimated to have a body mass of around 300–365 kilograms (661–805 lb), [3] with the mummy of an 8 year old adult male horse (the Selerikan mummy) having a height of 1.35 metres (4 ft 5 in) at the withers.
Equus lambei, commonly known as the Yukon horse or Yukon wild horse, [1] [2] is an extinct species of the genus Equus. Equus lambei ranged across North America until approximately 10,000 years ago. Based on recent examinations of the mtDNA of Equus lambei remains, scientists have concluded that E. lambei was probably much like the extinct ...
Hyracotherium (/ ˌ h aɪ r ə k oʊ ˈ θ ɪər i ə m,-k ə-/ HY-rək-o-THEER-ee-əm; "hyrax-like beast") is an extinct genus of very small (about 60 cm in length) perissodactyl ungulates that was found in the London Clay formation.