Is Hyracotherium a Hyrax?
When reading creationist literature on horse fossils, we often run across the claim that Hyracotherium was just a hyrax. A hyrax is a small animal, about the size of a rabbit, found today in the Middle East. Creationists have further suggested that, because it was a hyrax, Hyracotherium could not be the ancestor of modern horses. The name Hyracotherium comes from Richard Owen’s original description of fossils found in England.1 Hyracotherium is actually a bit bigger than hyraxes, and a comparison of the skulls of the two animals reveals very little in common. Though we’re not 100% certain that Hyracotherium is a horse (although I believe the evidence that I’ve evaluated points to that possible conclusion), it was not a hyrax. 1 R. Owen, “Description of the Fossil Remains of a Mammal (Hyracotherium leporinum) and of a Bird (Lithornis vulturinus) from the London Clay,” Transactions of the Geological Society of London 6 (1841):203–208.
