Litopterna Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Skeleton of Macrauchenia (Macraucheniidae) | |
Skeleton of Diadiaphorus (Proterotheriidae) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Clade: | Panperissodactyla |
Order: | †Litopterna Ameghino 1889 |
Subgroups | |
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Litopterna (from Ancient Greek: λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinct order of South American native ungulates that lived from the Paleocene to the end of the Pleistocene-early Holocene around 62.5 million-12,000 years ago, and were also present in Antarctica during the Eocene. They represent the second most diverse group of South American ungulates after Notoungulata.[1] It is divided into nine families, with Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae being the most diverse and last surviving families.[2]