Palaeomerycidae
The Palaeomerycidae is an extinct family of Neogene ruminants belonging to the infraorder Pecora. Palaeomerycids lived in Europe and Asia exclusively during the Miocene, coevolving with cervids, bovids, moschids, and tragulids there as part of a dramatic radiation of ruminants by the early Miocene.
| Palaeomerycidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Palaeomeryx, Tianjin Natural History Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Pecora |
| Clade: | Giraffomorpha |
| Superfamily: | †Palaeomerycoidea Ríos, Sánchez & Morales, 2017 |
| Family: | †Palaeomerycidae Lydekker, 1883 |
| Type genus | |
| Palaeomeryx von Meyer, 1834 | |
| Genera | |
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See text | |
Dromomerycids are sometimes considered to be subfamilies of the Palaeomerycidae, but recent research brought doubt to this, arguing that the dromomerycids lack the sutures on the skull roof that giraffomorphs (Giraffidae, Palaeomerycidae, Climacoceratidae) have for ossicone features. The similar resemblances of the two families could be the result of parallel evolution.
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