Extinct primitive dog-sized 4-toed Eocene animal

• Ancestor of the modern horse
• Earliest horse
• Dog-sized creature thought to be the horse's earliest ancestor

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
oldest known genus of the horse family, about the size of a fox and first known from fossil remains found in New Mexico, 1879, Modern Latin, from eo- "earliest" + Greek hippos "horse" (see equine ).

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. extinct early Eocene mammal, ''Hyracotherium leporinum''

WordNet Word definitions in WordNet
n. earliest horse; extinct primitive dog-sized 4-toed Eocene animal [syn: dawn horse ]

Wikipedia Word definitions in Wikipedia
Eohippus is an extinct genus of small equid ungulates . The only species is E. angustidens , which was long considered a species of Hyracotherium . Its remains have been identified in North America and date to the Early Eocene ( Ypresian ) stage .

The Collaborative International Dictionary Word definitions in The Collaborative International Dictionary
eohippus \eo*hip"pus\ ([=e]`[-o]*h[i^]p"p[u^]s), n. [Gr. 'hw`s dawn + "ipposhorse.] an extinct primitive dog-sized 4-toed Eocene mammal, the earliest horse known in the line of descent of the modern horse. It is classed in the extinct genus Hydracotherium ...