Name/Title
Fossilized Bone (horse lower jaw)Entry/Object ID
78.57.218Description
Crystal System: Hexagonal System
Description: Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Genus: Equus
Order: Perissodactyla
Common Name: Horse (lower jaw)
Age: Pleistocene
Location: North America
Description: Lower jaw bone of an prehistoric horse. Dark brown in color.
Physical Characteristics:
The evolution of the horse pertains to the phylogenetic ancestry of the modern horse from the small, dog-sized,[1] forest-dwelling Hyracotherium over geologic time scales. Paleozoologists have been able to piece together a more complete picture of the modern horse's evolutionary lineage than that of any other animal.
The horse belongs to an order known as Perissodactyla, or "odd-toed ungulates", which all share hooved feet and an odd number of toes on each foot, as well as mobile upper lips and a similar tooth structure. This means horses share a common ancestry with tapirs and rhinoceroses. The perissodactyls originally arose in the late Paleocene, less than 10 million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This group of animals appears to have been originally specialized for life in tropical forests, but whereas tapirs and, to some extent, rhinoceroses, retained their jungle specializations, modern horses are adapted to life on drier land in the much-harsher climatic conditions of the steppes. Other species of Equus are adapted to a variety of intermediate conditions.
Fracture: Conchoidal
Genus: Equus
Grain Size: Fine
Hardness: 3 Calcite
Kingdom: Animalia (Animals)
Luster: Vitreous
Order: Perissodactyla
Phylum: Chordata
Rock Origin: Terrestrial
Rock Type: Sedimentary
Streak: whiteCollection
Fossil CollectionAcquisition
Accession
78.57Source or Donor
Delmar Smith Fossil CollectionAcquisition Method
DonationLocation
Location
Container
Center/BackDrawer
Bottom ShelfShelf
LeftCabinet
Case # 1Wall
WestRoom
Fossil RoomBuilding
Crater Rock MuseumCategory
Permanent
