Indolophus

Indolophus; Temporal range: Early Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Superfamily:	Tapiroidea
Family:	Indolophidae
Genus:	Indolophus
Species:	I. guptai
Binomial name
	Indolophus guptai; Pilgrim, 1925

Indolophus is an extinct genus of perissodactyl belonging to the clade Tapiromorpha, which includes modern-day tapirs. Fossils have been found in Eocene deposits of Myanmar.^[1]

Description

Indolophus can be distinguished from other tapiromorphs in the characteristics of the upper dentition; it is distinguished from other basal tapiromorphs in having a more developed molar and protolophid and hypolophid. Indolophus is more primitive than tapiroids due to the lophodont dentiton and the absence of lingual and buccal cingula and molar metaconule.^[2] I. guptai has been estimated to have had a body mass of approximately 20.7 kg.^[3]

References

^ G. E. Pilgrim. 1925. The Perissodactyla of the Eocene of Burma. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India 8(3):1-28.
^ Tsubamoto, Takehisa; Tun, Soe Thura; Egi, Naoko; Takai, Masanaru; Shigehara, Nobuo; Soe, Aung Naing; Aung, Aye Ko; Thein, Tin (30 September 2003). "Reevaluation of some ungulate mammals from the Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar". Paleontological Research. 7 (3): 219–243. doi:10.2517/prpsj.7.219. ISSN 1342-8144. Retrieved 21 September 2025 – via BioOne Digital Library.
^ Tsubamoto, Takehisa; Egi, Naoko; Takai, Masanaru; Sein, Chit; Maung, Maung (2005). "Middle Eocene ungulate mammals from Myanmar: A review with description of new specimens" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 50 (1): 117–138 – via Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.