Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Cosmos Mariner
Taken: June 29, 2016
Caption: Marker detail:
Additional Description: This replica fossil skull is of an adult Merychippus. It is a member of the prehistoric horse family tree. The original fossil is in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Several of those horse fossils have been found in the John Day Fossil Beds.

A plant eater, Merychippus is a genus of horse that had three toes on each foot. They were about as tall as a small pony. Many species of Merychippus lived in North America about 15 million years ago. They are considered a “grazing” horse. The fossil record reveals that the earliest grasses in North America lived about 20 million years ago. This genus of horse was among the first to have evolved cementum on their teeth. Cementum helps strengthen the teeth for chewing tough, silica-enriched grasses.
Submitted: February 15, 2018, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Database Locator Identification Number: p416744
File Size: 0.192 Megabytes

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