appendages of later species suggests that these were not used in active fighting, instead forming a function of passive display. The limbs were more similar to those of modern large bovids (e.g. buffaloes) than to those of okapis. They probably lived in boggy forests, living on soft leaves and aquatic plants (as hinted to by the brachydont teeth, which are similar to those of primitive giraffids). Their diets consisted of coarse plant material. As a group, the palaeomerycids appear to have formed a successful part of an independent radiation of horned ruminants that diversified into a variety of forms during the early to middle Miocene, with a geographic range reaching from Spain to China. The giraffids seem to have originated in Asia south of the Alpine belt, while the cervoids seem to have originated north of the Alpine belt. Taxonomy The Palaeomerycidae were named by Lydekker (1883). The type genus is Palaeomeryx. The family was assigned to the Artiodactyla by Hulbert and Whitmore (2006), and to Cervoidea by Carroll (1988), Sach and Heizmann (2001) and Prothero and Liter (2007). Classification Amphitragulus Dromomerycinae Asiagenes Aletomerycini Sinclairomeryx Aletomeryx Surameryx? – interpretation as a palaeomerycid disputed Diabolocornis Dromomerycini Drepanomeryx Rakomeryx Dromomeryx Subdromomeryx Cranioceratini Barbouromeryx Bouromeryx Procranioceras Cranioceras Pediomeryx Yumaceras Palaeomerycinae Ampelomeryx Palaeomeryx Triceromeryx Xenokeryx Genus Lagomeryx (together with its proposed subfamily Lagomerycinae) may be a further member of this family, as well as Ligeromeryx and Stephanocemas (formerly classified as members of Cervidae). References External links Eocene first appearances Miocene extinctions Prehistoric mammal families Pecora