Sespia

Sespia
Temporal range: Late Oligocene
Sespia californica fossils in San Diego
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Infraclass: Placentalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: †Merycoidodontidae
Tribe: †Sespiini
Genus: †Sespia
Stock, 1930
Type species
†Leptauchenia nitida
Species
  • †S. nitida
  • †S. californica
  • †S. heterodon
  • †S. ultima
Synonyms
  • †Megasespia Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968

Sespia ("of Sespe Creek") is an extinct genus of oreodont endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Oligocene 26.3—24.8 mya, existing for approximately 1.5 million years.[1] Sespia was cat to goat-sized and desert-dwelling.[citation needed] The genus was closely related to the larger Leptauchenia.

Restoration of S. nitida as a semi-aquatic animal, 1913

Fossils of the best known species, the cat-sized S. californica, have been found in California and are known from literally thousands of specimens. The largest species, the goat-sized S. ultima, is known from Late Oligocene deposits in Nebraska. S. ultima was once placed in a separate monotypic genus as Megasespia middleswarti. Other species were once placed within Leptauchenia.

Palaeoecology

Paired analysis of its dental mesowear and microwear suggests that S. nitida was a folivorous browser.[2]

References

  1. ^ Sespia at fossilworks
  2. ^ Semprebon, Gina M.; Rivals, Florent; Janis, Christine M. (19 March 2019). "The Role of Grass vs. Exogenous Abrasives in the Paleodietary Patterns of North American Ungulates". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 7 65. Bibcode:2019FrEEv...7...65S. doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00065. ISSN 2296-701X.
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