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Lophiodon is a middle to large sized herbivore that occurred in Europe during the middle and upper Eocene. One of the latest species, the Bartonian Lophiodon lautricense from Robiac (Gard, France), reached the body size of a horse or a small rhino. Lophiodontidae are basal Perissodactyla, and were regarded as closely related to Tapiroidea within Ceratomorpha due to the similarities in the lophodont dentition (Cuvier 1822, Radinsky 1963, McKenna & Bell 1997). hooker (1984, 2005) and hooker and Dashzeveg (2004) discussed a closer relationship with chalicotheriids within Ancylopoda. This relationship was accepted by Froehlich (1999), Rose and Archibald (2005), and Rose (2006). Holbrook (2009) investigated cranial, postcranial, and dental characters and concluded that Lophiodontidae are best classified as a sister taxon in Ceratomorpha (Tapiroidea plus Rhinocerotoidea), and thus that Lophiodon is closer to Tapiroidea than to Chalicotheriidae. Several species were described for the genus Lophiodon that differ mainly in size, but the variability within the species is very great. The molarization of the premolars is used for taxonomic purposes. In the maxilla there are six postcanines (three premolars and three molars) separated from the anterior dentition by a short diastema. Credit Wighart von Koenigswald • Ann. ZOOL. Fennici Vol. 51, for this description. Order PERISSODACTYLA Suborder CERATOMORPHA Family LOPHIODONTIDAE Lophiodon lautricense NOULET, 1892 Late Middle Eocene (Bartonian) Robiac, Gard Dept., France (This image is best viewed by clicking on the button on the upper right of this page => "other sizes" => "large".)