Hyracotherium & Mesohippus

Starting a series of illustrations on the Early horses...

The 40 cm tall early horse Hyracotherium (= Eohippus) was widely distributed along the northern hemisphere during the Early Eocene period, 55-45 millions years ago. Several species have been described. This small creature lived in forest environments, probably in herds.

The later Mesohippus was a bit larger, standing at 60 cm in height, with longer legs. The different species were distributed from the Late Eocene to the Middle Oligocene periods (40-30 MYA) throughout the forests of the North American continent.


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