Editing Amblypoda

'''Amblypoda''' was a taxonomic hypothesis uniting a group of extinct, herbivorous [[mammal]]s. They were considered a suborder of the primitive [[ungulate]] mammals and have since been shown to represent a [[polyphyletic]] group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cope |first=E. D.|date=November 1884|title=The Amblypoda |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/273808|journal=The American Naturalist |language=en|volume=18|issue=11|pages=1110–1121 |doi=10.1086/273808|issn=0003-0147}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
The Amblypoda take their name from their short and stumpy feet, which were furnished with five toes each and supported massive pillar-like limbs. The brain cavity was extremely small and insignificant in comparison to the bodily mass, which was equal to that of the largest [[rhinoceros]]es. These animals were descendants of the small ancestral ungulates that retained all the primitive characteristics of the latter, accompanied by a huge increase in body size.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amblypoda|volume=1|pages=795-796|first=Richard|last=Lydekker|authorlink=Richard Lydekker}}</ref>

The Amblypoda were confined to the [[Paleocene]] and [[Eocene]] periods and occurred in [[North America]], [[Asia]] (especially [[Mongolia]]) and [[Europe]]. The cheek teeth were short-crowned ([[brachyodont]]), with the tubercles more-or-less completely fused into transverse ridges, or cross-crests ([[lophodont]] type), and the total number of teeth was in one case the typical 44, but in another was fewer. The [[vertebra]] of the neck unite on nearly flat surfaces, the [[humerus]] had lost the foramen, or perforation, at the lower end, and the third trochanter to the [[femur]] may have also been wanting. In the forelimb, the upper and lower series of [[carpal]] (finger) bones scarcely alternated, but in the hind foot, the astragalus overlapped the cuboid, while the [[fibula]], which was quite distinct from the [[tibia]] (as was the [[radius (bone)|radius]] from the [[ulna]] in the forelimb), articulated with both astragalus and calcaneum.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Types of amblypods==
The most generalized type was ''[[Coryphodon]]'', representing the family [[Coryphodontidae]], from the lower Eocene of Europe and North America, in which there were 44 teeth and no horn-like excrescences on the long skull, while the femur had a third trochanter. The canines were somewhat elongated and were followed by a short gap in each jaw, and the cheek-teeth were adapted for succulent food. The length of the body reached about six feet in some cases.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In the middle Eocene formations of North America occurred the more specialized ''[[Uintatherium]]'' (or ''Dinoceras''), typifying the family [[Uintatheriidae]]. Uintatheres were huge creatures with long narrow skulls, of which the elongated facial portion carried three pairs of bony horn-cores, probably covered with short horns in life, the hind-pair having been much the largest. The dental formula was i. 0/3, c. 1/1, p.&nbsp;3/3·4, m. 3/3, the upper canines having been long sabre-like weapons, protected by a descending flange on each side of the lower front jaw.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In the basal Eocene of North America, the Amblypoda were represented by extremely primitive, five-toed, small ungulates such as ''[[Periptychus]]'' and ''[[Pantolambda]]'', each of these typifying a family{{Vague|date=April 2009}}. The full typical series of 44 teeth was developed in each, but whereas in the [[Periptychidae]], the upper molars were [[bunodont]] and [[tritubercular]], in the [[Pantolambdidae]], they had assumed a [[selenodont]] structure. [[Creodonta|Creodont]] characters were displayed in the skeleton.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Current taxonomy of animals once classified in Amblypoda==
Few authorities recognize Amblypoda in modern classifications.  The following mammals were once considered part of this group:

*Order [[Pantodonta]]
**Family [[Wangliidae]]
**Family [[Harpyodidae]]
**Family [[Bemalambdidae]]
**Family [[Pastoralodontidae]]
**Family [[Titanoideidae]]
**Family [[Pantolambdidae]] (including ''[[Pantolambda]]'')
**Family [[Barylambdidae]]
**Family [[Cyriacotheriidae]]
**Family [[Pantolambdodontidae]]
**Family [[Coryphodontidae]] (including ''[[Coryphodon]]'')
*Order [[Dinocerata]]
**Family [[Uintatheriidae]] (includes ''[[Uintatherium]]'', ''Eobasileus'', ''Tetheopsis'', etc.  ''[[Gobiatherium]]'' is sometimes placed in its own family.)
*a part of the order [[Condylarthra]], mainly the family [[Periptychidae]] (including ''[[Periptychus]]'')

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Obsolete mammal taxa]]