| 释义 |
hyracotherium|ˌhaɪərəkəʊˈθɪərɪəm|
Also H-.
[mod.L., f. hyraco- + Gr. θηρίον wild beast.]
An extinct mammal of the genus so called; a primitive type of horse.
1840R. Owen in Proc. Geol. Soc. III. 163 The resemblance of the molar division..in the new genus, for which the name of Hyracotherium is proposed, and the Chæropotamus, is sufficiently close. Ibid., The incisor teeth with the ossa intermaxillaria are wanting in the specimen of the Hyracotherium. 1851Richardson Geol. (1855) 324 Hyracotherium, so named in consequence of its structural affinities in the size of the orbits, &c., with the Hyrax, was found in the London clay and the lacustrine eocene sand at Kyson. 1904Daily Chron. 4 Jan. 9/1 Illustrations were given of a four and a five-toed horse, the extinct hyracotherium, no bigger than a Newfoundland dog. 1931Discovery XII. 32/1 The evolution of the horse from the little hyracotherium of the Eocene period—a creature not much larger than a cat—is admirably shown. 1955Sci. News Let. 12 Feb. 104/1 The ancient horse, Hyracotherium, was not very much of a horse by modern standards. It was about the size of a shepherd dog and, unlike modern horses, it had four functional toes.
Hence hyracotherian |-ˈθɪərɪən|, -theriine |-ˈθɪərɪaɪn| adjs., belonging to the genus Hyracotherium.
1887E. D. Cope in Amer. Nat. Nov. 994 It has been from the Hyracotheriine sub-family that the horse line was derived. |