A horse to fit in your lap.A horse to fit in your lap Paleontologists have discovered fossils of cat-sized horses that scampered across northwestern Wyoming about 50 million years ago, during the Eocene epoch Eocene epoch (ē`əsēn'), second epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time, from approximately 54.9 to 38 million years ago. . Called Hyracotherium hyracotherium eohippus. sandrae, the newly identified species is the oldest known horse in North America, reports Philip D. Gingerich of the University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. in Ann Arbor. H. sandrae, which resembled a Siamese cat Siamese cat: see cat. Siamese cat Breed of slender, short-haired domestic cat that originated in Thailand (Siam). The Siamese has a pale fawn or gray body with dark points on the ears, face, legs, and tail. in size and build, shared the landscape with other early forms of modern mammals such as primates and small, deer-like animals, whose fossils also appear at the Wyoming site. Scientists have found no predecessors to these species in North America, suggesting they migrated there after evolving on another continent, says paleontologist Gregg Gunnell of the University of Michigan, who studies the Wyoming fossils with Gingerich. At that time in Earth's history, land bridges may have connected North America to Europe and to Asia, Gunnell adds. |
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