What is a Protylopus?

Protylopus is an extinct genus of camel that lived during middle to late Eocene some 50-40 million years ago in North America.

Along with being the oldest camel known, it was also the smallest, reaching a length of 80 centimetres (2.6 ft), and probably weighing around 26 kilograms (57 lb).

Based on its teeth, it probably fed on the soft leaves of forest plants. Protylopus's front legs were shorter than the hind legs, and ended in four-toed feet. The hind legs also ended in four toes, but most of the weight was carried by the third and fourth, so it may have raised itself up on its back legs like the modern day gerenuk antelope to feed.

The gerenuk also known as the giraffe gazelle, is a long-necked, medium-sized antelope found in parts of East Africa.

The shape of the Protylopus' toes suggests that the animal possessed hooves, rather than the foot-pads of modern camels.

A camel is an even-toed ungulate in the genus "Camelus" that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide food (milk and meat) and textiles (fiber and felt from hair).