Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 16, 2026

Copecion

Copecion was a genus of early herbivorous mammals that was part of the family Phenacodontidae. It reached 6 to 12 kg and was similar in size and morphology to Ectocion. Both these herbivorous ungulates likely occupied similar ecological niches.

Last revised
Jun 16, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
138 w
Citations
3
Source
Copecion
Temporal range: Wasatchian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Family: Phenacodontidae
Genus: Copecion
Gingerich, 1989
Species1
  • Copecion brachypternus (Cope, 1882)
  • Copecion davisi (type) Gingerich, 1989

Copecion was a genus of early herbivorous mammals that was part of the family Phenacodontidae.2 It reached 6 to 12 kg and was similar in size and morphology to Ectocion. Both these herbivorous ungulates likely occupied similar ecological niches.3

References

References

  1. "Copecion". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  2. P. D. Gingerich. 1989. "New earliest Wasatchian mammalian fauna from the Eocene of northwestern Wyoming: composition and diversity in a rarely sampled high-floodplain assemblage". University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology 28:1-97.
  3. Andrew Schwartz (November 2023). "Investigating Niche Overlap in Two Sympatric Phenacodonts using Dental Microwear Texture Analysis". 83rd Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology at Cincinnati, Ohio.
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