Hayoceros Temporal range: Middle-Late Pleistocene
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Antilocapridae |
Genus: | †Hayoceros Skinner, 1942 |
Species | |
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Hayoceros is an extinct genus of the artiodactyl family Antilocapridae, endemic to North America during the Pleistocene epoch (1.8 mya—300,000 years ago), existing for about 1.5 million years.[1]
Hayoceros was named by Skinner (1942) and named as a subgenus of Tetrameryx by Frick 1937; it was later raised to genus level. It was assigned to the Antilocapridae by Skinner (1942) and Carroll (1988).[2][3]
It was about 1.8 m (5.9 ft) in body length, and in most respects, resembled modern pronghorns. However, in addition to the pair of forked horns located above the eyes, as in modern pronghorns, it also possessed a second, longer and unforked, pair on the back of the skull. Most likely, males used these to fight in a fashion similar to modern pronghorns, locking horns and then pushing until the opponent gives in.[4]