Equus sp. Fossil Tooth Prehistoric Horse Megafauna Pleistocene Quaternary Collection (3)

Description

Origin : Florida (U.S.A.) - Santa Fe River

Geological era : Late Pleistocene

Age : 50,000 years ago

Size : mm 35 x 10 x 5

Fossil Horse Tooth mm 35 x 10 x 5 Prehistoric Equine Equus sp. Megafauna Extinct Perissodactyl Mammals Pleistocene Quaternary Collecting Paleontology Museum.

Interesting collectible fossil find, nicely polished by the current of the Santa Fe River in Florida which brought to light the fossil remains of the animal. Only a piece, as in photos.

Equus is a genus of Perissodactyl Mammals, belonging to the Equidae family, Equinae subfamily, Equini tribe. It is the only still living genus of the family. The evolution of the Horse involves the gradual growth in size, starting from Hyracotherium (Eohippus) that had the size of a fox.
Perissodactyla, or "odd-hoofed animals from the fingers", have an odd number of fingers on each foot, a mobil upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means that the horses have a common origin with tapirs and rhinos. This group of animals born in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the KT extinction. Originally specialized for life in tropical forests, the tapirs and the rhinoceros preserved their specialization for the jungle, while the horses have adapted to life in arid climates and also with severe weather conditions as in the steps.
As the grass began to appear and flourish, their diet adapted, and with it the teeth. At the same time, with the spread of steps, Equidae will specialize to be capable of greater speed to escape predators. This was achieved through the stretching of limbs and loss for some toes of contact with the soil, so that the weight of the body was gradually moved to the longest finger: the third.
All forms of horse, as the modern domestic horses (Equus Przewalski), and those of Germany, Siberia, and Alaska, seem to form a single cluster Holartic variety related to two major clades. One was probably limited to North America, who died before the domestication has taken place, and another, widely distributed from Central Europe to North America, would become the founder of the modern horse. The oldest species of Equus, Equus stenonis, was discovered in Italy.
All horses in North America died out about 11,000 years ago. The causes of this extinction were discussed. Given the suddenness of the event and the fact that these mammals had been thriving for millions of years before, something very unusual must have happened. Possible reasons include climate change, pandemic, or over-hunting by man.