Sespia

Sespia ("of Sespe Creek") is an extinct genus of oreodont endemic to North America. They lived during the Late Oligocene 26.3—24.8 mya, existing for approximately 1.5 million years.^[1] Sespia was cat to goat-sized and desert-dwelling.^{[citation needed]} The genus was closely related to the larger Leptauchenia.

Restoration of S. nitida as a semi-aquatic animal, 1913

Sespia Temporal range: Late Oligocene
Sespia californica fossils in San Diego
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Merycoidodontidae
Tribe:	†Sespiini
Genus:	†Sespia Schultz & Falkenbach 1968
Type species
†Leptauchenia nitida
Species
†S. nitida †S. californica †S. heterodon †S. ultima
Synonyms
†Megasespia Schultz and Falkenbach, 1968

Fossils of the best known species, the cat-sized S. californica, have been found in California and are known from literally thousands of specimens. The largest species, the goat-sized S. ultima, is known from Late Oligocene deposits in Nebraska. S. ultima was once placed in a separate monotypic genus as Megasespia middleswarti. Other species were once placed within Leptauchenia.

Palaeoecology

Paired analysis of its dental mesowear and microwear suggests that S. nitida was a folivorous browser.^[2]