The name Punahyrax is composed of the prefix Puna-, the Quechua word designing the central altiplano of the Andes, and who gave its name to the puna grassland ecoregion, and of the suffix -hyrax, commonly used in the taxonomy of Archaeohyracidae. The species name, Punahyrax bondesioi, honors the paleontologist Pedro Bondesio.[1]
Description
Punahyrax was one of the smaller archaeohyracids, approximately 30% smaller than Archaeohyrax. Apart from its size, it was distinguished from its relatives by the absence of the anterolingual cingulum in the upper molars and of the trigonid fossa in the lower molars.[1]