The axial skeleton of Brachyodus onoideus (Mammalia, Anthracotheriidae): taxonomic and functional implications

Abstract

Vertebrae of Brachyodus onoideus from Europe have never been described, yet several specimens have been curated in diverse museums for more than a century. The importance of the cervical vertebrae lies in the fact that they reveal that this species possessed a moderately elongated neck that in neutral posture was oriented upwards, somewhat as in some extant artiodactyls (Okapi, Eland and camels), unlike the low-slung head and neck posture of the two extant genera of hippopotamuses. The sacrum of Brachyodus is markedly different from those of Hippopotamus and Choeropsis. In morpho-functional terms it is closer to those of large ruminants and equids, indicating the possession of a less muscular tail than in hippos which wag their tails energetically during defecation.