http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eohippus
Hyracotherium
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[/align]Hyracotherium, the ancestor of all modern horses, was only 20cm (0.6 feet) in height[/align][/align][/align]
Hyracotherium ("mole beast")
is considered to be the earliest known
horse. It was
dog-sized and four-toed. It lived in the
Northern Hemisphere (in
Asia,
Europe, and
North America) during the
Eocene,
between 60 and 45 million years ago.
The first
fossils of this tiny horse were found in
England by the famous
paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841. He did not have a full specimen, didn't realise what he had, and called it "mole beast". When a full specimen was discovered later it was given the more fitting name Eohippus ("dawn horse"). It wasn't realised until later that the two finds were the same species. The first published name has priority as the official name.
It should be noted that some scientists remain unconvinced that hyracotherium had any connection with horses.
Hyracotherium averaged only 2 feet (60 cm) in length and averaged 8 to 9 inches (20 cm) high at the shoulder. It had 4 hoofed toes on the front feet and 3 hoofed toes on each hind foot. The skull was long, having 44 long-crowned teeth. Hyracotherium
is believed to have been a grazing
herbivore that ate soft leaves and plant shoots.
In elementary level textbooks, hyracotherium is commonly described as being "the size of a small fox terrier." This arcane analogy was so curious that
Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about it ("The Case of the Creeping Fox Terrier Clone") in which he exposed a situation that involved textbook
plagiarism.
kevin1 said
Quote:
Mind , say this word 3 times fast "EOHIPPUS"
It will never sound like "HORSE" , but that's exactly what it was , the forerunner of the modern horse.
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So you see, its NOT factually the forerunner of the horse. Its a theory that it is, a hypothesis. Its not fact. Read the above - 3 times
Quote:
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The link between the two has been indisputably proven through the fossil record(transitional fossils , yeah I said it)and by intense study by people whoactually do know what they're talking about. No , it will never take your order at the drive through window in your lifetime , but a million years from now ...
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See the above - its not fact that the little creature "evolved" into a horse. Its theory, not fact.
I thought you knew what you were talking about ?
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