Sespia ("of Sespe Creek") is an extinct genus of oreodont endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Oligocene 26.3—24.8 mya, existing for approximately 1.5 million years.[1] Sespia was cat to goat-sized and desert-dwelling.[citation needed] The genus was closely related to the larger Leptauchenia.

Sespia
Temporal range: Late Oligocene
Sespia californica fossils in San Diego
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Merycoidodontidae
Tribe: Sespiini
Genus: Sespia
Schultz & Falkenbach 1968
Type species
Leptauchenia nitida
Species
  • S. nitida
  • S. californica
  • S. heterodon
  • S. ultima
Synonyms
  • Megasespia Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968
Restoration of S. nitida as a semi-aquatic animal, 1913

Fossils of the best known species, the cat-sized S. californica, have been found California and are known from literally thousands of specimens. The largest species, the goat-sized S. ultima, is known from late Oligocene deposits in Nebraska. S. ultima was once placed in a separate, monotypic, genus as Megasespia middleswarti. Other species were once placed within Leptauchenia.

References

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