This animal was very similar to the modern musk deer (Moschus moschiferus) of East Asia. However, Micromeryx (its name means "tiny ruminant") was much smaller: it perhaps reached 5 kilograms. Teeth were very similar to those of the extant Cephalophus but more primitive. Like in the present moschids, the males of these animals were equipped with long upper canines, protruding from the mouth when it was closed. The body was slender and short, while the legs were extremely elongated.[4]
Systematics
Restoration of Micromeryx, male specimen
Micromeryx was a primitive representative of the moschids, a group of primitive ruminants related to deer and cattle. They had a remarkable expansion during the Miocene and Pliocene and are currently represented by a few species, such as the aforementioned Moschus moschiferus. A somewhat similar animal was Hispanomeryx, which lived in about the same area as Micromeryx but went extinct during the Middle Miocene.[4]
Distribution
Micromeryx probably originated in Western Asia and then spread to Europe and East Asia. Many fossils of this animal have been found in a vast geographical area ranging from Anatolia (Turkey)[6] to Spain[4] and China.
Palaeoecology
Fruit was an important component of the diet of M. flourensianus, whereas the contemporary. M.? eiselei was a leafbrowser.[7]
^Alaburić, Sanja; Radović, Predrag (2016). “An early record of the moschid genus Micromeryx (Mammalia, Ruminantia)”. In: Marković, Z., Milivojević, M. (Eds.), Life on the shore – geological and paleontological research in the Neogene of Sibnica and vicinity (Levač basin, Central Serbia). Part 1. Special Issue of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade: 141–148.
