Palaeolama
genus of mammals (fossil)
Palaeolama (lit. 'ancient llama') is an extinct genus of lamine camelids that existed from the Pleistocene to the Holocene (1.9 to 0.0034 Ma). Their range extended from North America to the intertropical region of South America.
Description
Palaeolama species were relatives of modern lamines that lived in the New World from the Pleistocene around 1.9 million years ago to potentially the Holocene epoch around 3,353–4,231 years cal. Before Present (BP). Fossil evidence suggests that it had a slender head, elongated snout, and stocky legs. They likely weighed around 200 kilograms (440 lb) or up to 300 kilograms (660 lb), surpassing the weight of modern llamas. They were specialized forest browsers and are often found in association with early equids, tapirs, deer, and mammoth.
Skull
Palaeolama had a long, slender skull with an elongated rostrum and robust jaw. This morphology more closely resembles the cranial morphology of Hemiauchenia than that of modern llamas.
Dental
The jaw and dental morphology of Palaeolama species distinguish them from other laminae.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Palaeolama” as genus of mammals (fossil). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as genus of mammals (fossil). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q864122. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Palaeolama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.