Palaeotherium

Palaeotherium (Ancient Greek for 'old beast') is an extinct genus of perissodactyl ungulate known from the Mid Eocene to earliest Oligocene of Europe. First described by French naturalist Georges Cuvier in 1804, Palaeotherium was among the first Paleogene mammals to be described. Taxonomy Palaeotherium belongs to the family Palaeotheriidae, a group proposed to consist of two subfamilies, the Palaeotheriinae representing Palaeotherium and the Plagiolophinae containing the closely related Plagiolophus. Although at times proposed to be ancestral to modern horses the palaeotheres are now considered a sister taxon to the Equidae, and not part of the same lineage. The species and subspecies referable to Palaeotherium are a subject of debate, due in part to the diversity of species within the genus. Species and subspecies are mainly assigned based on dental and cranial characteristics. Description