Editing Moropus (section)

==Description==
[[File:Moropus elatus life restoration.jpg|left|thumb|Size comparison between ''M.elatus'' and a human]]

Some species of ''Moropus'', such as ''M. elatus'', were among the largest chalicotheres,<ref name=":1" /> standing about {{convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} tall at the shoulder and with a body weight around the size of a large rhinoceros.<ref name=":0" /> One ''Moropus'' specimen has an estimated body mass of {{Convert|1179|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Etienne |first1=Cyril |last2=Mallet |first2=Christophe |last3=Cornette |first3=Raphaël |last4=Houssaye |first4=Alexandra |date=2020-03-28 |title=Influence of mass on tarsus shape variation: a morphometrical investigation among Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) |url=https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/129/4/950/5727857 |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=129 |issue=4 |pages=950–974 |doi=10.1093/biolinnean/blaa005 |issn=0024-4066}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Body size in mammalian paleobiology: estimation and biological implications |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01933-0 |editor-last=Damuth |editor-first=John |edition=1. paperb. version |location=Cambridge}}</ref> Smaller specimens have been described as being about the size of a tapir.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Marsh |first=Othniel Charles |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/30830 |title=Introduction and succession of vertebrate life in America. An address delivered before the American association for the advancement of science, at Nashville, Tenn., August 30, 1877 |date=1878 |publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, printers |location=New Haven, Conn}}</ref>

=== Skull ===
''Moropus''<nowiki/>' skull was fairly small compared to its body.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Coombs |first=Margery Chalifoux |date=1983 |title=Large Mammalian Clawed Herbivores: A Comparative Study |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3137420 |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=73 |issue=7 |pages=1–96 |doi=10.2307/3137420|jstor=3137420 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> It was narrow, and bore high [[Nasal bone|nasal bones]]. The snout had a spoon-shaped tip, a characteristic common to selective [[Browsing (herbivory)|browsers]]. It suggests the presence of mobile lips and possibly a long tongue.<ref name=":7" /> [[William Berryman Scott]] suggested that the tongue may have been used in conjunction with the upper lip to pull down branches.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=William Berryman |author-link=William Berryman Scott |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/54974 |title=A history of land mammals in the Western Hemisphere; illustrated with 32 plates and more than 100 drawings |date=1913 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York}}</ref> The lower [[Incisor|incisors]] protruded forwards, and the [[premaxilla]] is [[Toothlessness|toothless]], similar to in modern [[Ruminant|ruminants]]. This would have formed a cropping mechanism for processing vegetation. There was a [[diastema]] (gap) separating the incisors from the [[cheek teeth]], which would have allowed the tongue to extrude from the mouth.<ref name=":7" /> The [[maxilla]] was similar to that of modern horses (''[[Equus (genus)|Equus]]'').<ref name=":0" /> Some specimens (or species) ''Moropus'' did not have a [[sagittal crest]],<ref name=":2" /> while others did, even as juveniles.<ref name=":0" /> 

=== Dentition ===
''Moropus'' had incisors only on the lower jaw.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Coombs |first=Margery Chalifoux |date=1978 |title=A Premaxilla of Moropus elatus Marsh, and Evolution of Chalicotherioid Anterior Dentition |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1303796 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=118–121 |jstor=1303796 |issn=0022-3360}}</ref> The cheek teeth (the [[Premolar|premolars]] and [[Molar (tooth)|molars]]) were robust, covered in thick [[Tooth enamel|enamel]], and strongly rooted. The first upper premolar is absent, like other chalicotheres. The second upper premolar was triangular, with the protocone and tritocone ([[Cusp (anatomy)|cusps]]) having fused into a single structure, mostly comprising the former. The third upper premolar is more quadrate in shape, and has one tubercle rather than two. The fourth upper premolar is slightly larger but otherwise very similar.<ref name=":0" /> The lower incisors, of which there were three on each side,<ref name=":0" /> are procumbent (protruding), spatulate, and were separated from the cheek teeth by a long diastema.<ref name=":8" /> The first upper molar is very enlarged, the second is one-fifth longer, and the third is only slightly larger. All three are roughly the same in terms of overall structure. The second lower premolar is highly reduced. Third is molariform (molar-like), in a similar fashion to the brontothere ''[[Megacerops]]''. The first lower molar is considerably wider than the fourth lower premolar, though they are otherwise quite similar, with the exception that the [[Glossary of mammalian dental topography|hypoconid]] is more well-developed and the [[Cingulum (tooth)|cingulum]] is less so. The second lower molar is longer, and has a more prominent cingulum. The third lower molar lacks its third lobe, similar to other chalicotheres.<ref name=":0" />

=== Postcranial skeleton ===
''Moropus''<nowiki/>' neck was somewhat like that of a modern horse, albeit considerably stockier.<ref name=":0" /> All of ''Moropus''<nowiki/>' [[Cervical vertebrae|cervical]] (neck) [[Vertebra|vertebrae]] were somewhat elongated, and the neck was long enough that, when drinking, ''Moropus'' would have to splay its forelimbs to reach the ground level, as in modern [[Giraffe|giraffes]]. This, and the fact that the [[Anatomical terms of location|dorsal]] musculature of the neck appears to have been stronger than the [[Anatomical terms of location|ventral]] musculature, suggest that ''Moropus'' held its neck obliquely upright.<ref name=":7" /> As in other [[chalicothere]]s, ''Moropus'' differed from typical ungulates in having large claws, rather than hooves, on the feet. Three large, highly compressed claws were present on each of the front feet, supported inside by fissured bony [[Phalanx bone|phalanges]]. As with all schizotheriines, the articulation of the [[phalanges|phalangeal]] (finger) bones shows that ''Moropus'' could retract its claws enough to walk smoothly with the front feet in a normal digitigrade stance, lifting the claws by [[Anatomical terms of motion|hyperextension]]. ''Moropus'' was likely more heavily quadrupedal than ''Chalicotherium''. However, while not as extreme as in ''Chalicotherium'', ''Moropus''<nowiki/>' [[pelvis]] still bore some adaptations for bipedal stance, such as a long [[ischium]], and changes in the structure of the hindfoot (i.e. the shortening and widening of the [[Talus bone|astragalus]]) to increase its weight-bearing capabilities without sacrificing limb length.<ref name=":7" />