Named By: | Richard Owen in 1845 |
Time Period: | Late Paleocene - Middle Eocene, 57-46 Ma |
Location: | Across North America but particularly well known in the USA |
Size: | Around 2.25 meters long, 1 meter tall at the shoulder |
Diet: | Herbivore |
Fossil(s): | Multiple individuals |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Cimolesta | Pantodonta | Coryphodontidae | |
Also known as: | | Bathmodon | Ectacodon | Lefalophodon | Loxolophodon | Manteodon | Metalophodon | |
Coryphodon (from Greek koruphe, "point", and odous, "tooth", meaning peaked tooth, referring to "the development of the angles of the ridges into points [on the molars].") is an extinct genus of mammal.
Coryphodon was a pantodont, a member of the world's first group of large browsing mammals. It migrated across what is now northern North America, replacing Barylambda, an earlier pantodont. It is regarded as the ancestor of the genus Hypercoryphodon of Mid Eocene Mongolia.
Coryphodon is known from many specimens in North America and considerably fewer in Europe, Mongolia, and China. It is a small to medium-sized coryphodontid who differs from other members of the family in dental characteristics.