| Metaschizotherium Temporal range: Early - Mid Miocene
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Chalicotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Schizotheriinae |
| Genus: | †Metaschizotherium von Koenigswald, 1932 |
| Type species | |
| †Metaschizotherium fraasi Marsh, 1877
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| Species | |
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Metaschizotherium is an extinct genus that belongs to the family Chalicotheriidae, which was a group of herbivorous perissodactyl ("odd-toed") mammals. Though found primarily in Europe, fragmentary remains suggest that their range extended into Asia.
Several other species have been described under Metaschizotherium in the past, including the African M. transvaalensis, but they have been transferred to other genera, such as Ancylotherium. The entire genus has been considered synonymous with Ancylotherium in the past, but nowadays the two are generally found to be distinct.[1]
This genus is typically associated with areas of closed, moist forest, where it fed on relatively soft leaves and shoots compared to a more abrasive diet of twigs and bark.[2]
- ^ Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 665. ISBN 9780520257214.
- ^ Coombs, Margery C. (13 Feb 2009). "The chalicothere Metaschizotherium bavaricum (Perissodactyla, Chalicotheriidae, Schizotheriinae) from the Miocene (MN5) Lagerstatte of Sandelzhausen (Germany): description, comparison, and paleoecological significance" (PDF). Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 83 (1). Springer Berlin / Heidelberg: 85–129. Bibcode:2009PalZ...83...85C. doi:10.1007/s12542-009-0004-x. S2CID 140194075.