Hyracotherium, also known as Eohippus or the dawn horse, was a genus of forest-dwelling herbivores about the size of a fox. Its distribution ranged from America to Eurasia. Its front limbs ended in four toes, its hindlimbs in three toes. Its feet were padded, similar to a dog's paw and the claws already showed similarity to hooves.
The low crowns of Hyracotherium's teeth and the lack of a structured grinding surface indicate that this animal was a browser, mainly feeding on soft leaves, buds, and berries. Analysis of the stomach content of a fossilised individual found in the Messel Pit in Germany supports this theory.

It lived in the eocene era between 60 and 45 million years ago.