Hippotherium weihoense represents earliest three-toed horse in Eurasia: Chinese researchers

(ECNS) -- Morphologic comparison indicates previously reported Hipparion weihoense and Hipparion chiai should be referred to as the same species, Hippotherium weihoense, an extinct horse genus, according to a study jointly conducted by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology and Hezheng Paleozoological Fossil Museum.

Based on the study, the significant paper 'Hippotherium Datum Implies Miocene Palaeoecological Pattern' was recently published by Scientific Reports.

According to the current dating of its occurrence in East Asia, Hippotherium weihoense represents the earliest horse genus in the Old World and thus marks the Hippotherium Datum in the early Late Miocene in Eurasia, according to the paper.