Archaeohippus is an extinct three toed member of the family Equidae

Equidae

Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus...

 known from fossils of Late Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

 to early Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 age. The genus is noted for several distinct skeletal

Skeleton

The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...

 features. The skull possesses deeply pocketed fossa in a notably long preorbital region

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

. The genus is considered an example of phyletic dwarfism

Insular dwarfism

Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals – typically mammals – when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is distinct from the intentional creation of dwarf...

 with adults estimated at being on average 20kg in weight. This is in contrast to the most common equid of the period, Miohippus

Miohippus

Miohippus was a genus of prehistoric horse existing longer than most Equidae. Miohippus lived in what is now North America during the Oligocene approximately 32-25 million years ago. While descending genera of this species lived during the Miocene period, the Miohippus was a horse of the Oligocene...

. Characters of the teeth show a mix of both primitive and advanced traits. The advanced traits are very similar to those shown in the genus Parahippus

Parahippus

Parahippus is an extinct relative of the modern horse, very similar to Miohippus, but slightly larger, at around tall, at the withers....

. The noted similarities of Archaeohippus and Parahippus show them to be descended from a common ancestor and are considered sister species.

Taxonomic History

The first species to be named was found in the Miocene Mascall Fauna of Cottonwood Creek

Cottonwood Creek

Cottonwood Creek may refer to:*Cottonwood Creek Ranch Airport*Cottonwood Creek , a Wild and Scenic River in the White Mountains...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. Named Anchitherium ultimus

Anchitherium

Anchitherium was a fossil horse with a three-toed hoof.Anchitherium was a browsing horse that originated in the early Miocene of North America and subsequently dispersed to Europe and Asia, where it gave rise to the larger bodied genus Sinohippus...

the species was described in 1886 by noted paleontologist, E. D. Cope

Edward Drinker Cope

Edward Drinker Cope was an American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, as well as a noted herpetologist and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of nineteen...

 during the height of the Bone wars

Bone Wars

The Bone Wars, also known as the "Great Dinosaur Rush", refers to a period of intense fossil speculation and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh...

. During study 1906 on the Mascall formation equids, J. Gidley moved to a new genus he named Archaeohippus. The strong similarity of the traits resulted in the genus being considered a subgenus of Parahippus by W. D. Matthew in 1932. In stark contrast of opinion Archaeohippus was revalidated by D.F. Bode in 1933, and along with A. ultimus, he included A. mourningi and A. penultimus. Archaeohippus ranged across all of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. In addition to the occurrences in Florida and Oregon, fossil specimens have been found in Southern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

  & 1993 "Biostratigraphy of the Cypress Hills Formation (Eocene to Miocene), Saskatchewan: equid types (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) and associated faunal assemblages." Journal of Paleontology 67:660–669.. At the other end of its range Archaeohippus have been found as far south as the Miocene Gaillard Cut local in the former canalzone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

 of Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

.

In at least part of its range Archaeohippus dwelt in a forested or wooded habitat.