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Class Mammalia
Order Rodentia

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Family Caviidae

Capybara relationships are to the south, with extant species in Central and South America. United States Pliocene and Pleistocene occurrences are in the southern portions of the country. Modern species occur along the banks of marshes and streamside habitats (Kurtén and Anderson 1980), and presumably the fossil species had similar tastes.

Literature. Kurén and Anderson 1980.

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Neochoerus sp.—CapybaraRegional Pleistocene distribution of Neochoerus sp.

Sites.

Late Blancan: Cal Tech (Morgan and White 2005).

Mid Wisconsin: Térapa (Mead et al. 2006).

Literature. Mead et al. 2006; Morgan and White 2005.

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Neochoerus dichroplax Ahearn and Lance 1980—Ahearn's CapybaraRegional Pleistocene distribution of Neochoerus dichroplax.

Ahern and Lance (1980:436): Diagnosis.—M3 with bifurcations in second to ninth or eleventh laminae. M3 composed of fifteen or sixteen laminae. P4 with prisms l, II and III united ; prism ll with three internal edges and one external edge.

The specimens from the 111 Ranch site were too fragmentary for specific identification, but assigned to this species since they are essentially topotypical with the type specimens (Tomida 1987).

Sites.

Late Blancan: 111 Ranch (Morgan and White 2005).

Irvingtonian: El Golfo (Croxen et al. 2007).

Literature. Croxen et al. 2007; Morgan and White 2005; Tomida 1987.

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Last Update: 17 Jul 2014