| Brachyodus Temporal range: Early Miocene | |
|---|---|
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| jaw bone fossil | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | † Anthracotheriidae |
| Genus: | † Brachyodus |
| Species | |
| |
Brachyodus was a genus of anthracothere that lived in Europe during the Early Miocene.
The type and only species of this genus is B. onoideus. The nominal species "Brachyodus" strategus has been reassigned to Paenanthracotherium based on similarities with P. bergeri. [1] Likewise, the putative Asian species "B." japonicus was referred to Elomeryx by Tsubamoto and Kohno (2011). [2]
Fossils of Brachyodus are known from latest early Miocene deposits in Europe. [3] It has also been reported from the late Burdigalian fossil site of Tagay, located on Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal. [4]
Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla. Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two of their five toes. The other three toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or pointing posteriorly. By contrast, most perissodactyls bear weight on an odd number of the five toes. Another difference between the two orders is that many artiodactyls digest plant cellulose in one or more stomach chambers rather than in their intestine. Molecular biology, along with new fossil discoveries, has found that cetaceans fall within this taxonomic branch, being most closely related to hippopotamuses. Some modern taxonomists thus apply the name Cetartiodactyla to this group, while others opt to include cetaceans within the existing name of Artiodactyla. Some researchers use "even-toed ungulates" to exclude cetaceans and only include terrestrial artiodactyls, making the term paraphyletic in nature.
Hippopotamidae is a family of stout, naked-skinned, and semiaquatic artiodactyl mammals, possessing three-chambered stomachs and walking on four toes on each foot. While they resemble pigs physiologically, their closest living relatives are the cetaceans. They are sometimes referred to as hippopotamids.
Pseudaelurus is a prehistoric cat that lived in Europe, Asia and North America in the Miocene between approximately twenty and eight million years ago. It is considered to be a paraphyletic grade ancestral to living felines and pantherines as well as the extinct machairodonts (saber-tooths), and is a successor to Proailurus. It originated from Eurasia and was the first cat to reach North America, when it entered the continent at about 18.5 Ma ending a 'cat-gap' of 7 million years. The slender proportions of the animal, together with its short, viverrid-like legs, suggest that it may have been an agile climber of trees.
Anthracotherium is an extinct genus of artiodactyls characterized by having 44 teeth, with five semi-crescentic cusps on the crowns of the upper molars. The genus ranged from the middle Eocene period until the early Miocene, having a distribution throughout Eurasia. Material subjectively assigned to Anthracotherium from Pakistan suggests the last species died out soon after the start of the Miocene.
Chalicotheriidae is an extinct family of herbivorous, odd-toed ungulate (perissodactyl) mammals that lived in North America, Eurasia, and Africa from the Middle Eocene to the Early Pleistocene. They are often called chalicotheres, a term which is also applied to the broader grouping of Chalicotherioidea. They are noted for their unusual morphology compared to other ungulates, such as their clawed forelimbs. Members of the subfamily Chalicotheriinae developed elongate gorilla-like forelimbs that are thought to have been used to grasp vegetation. They are thought to have been browsers on foliage as well as possibly bark and fruit.
Amphicyon is an extinct genus of large carnivorans belonging to the family Amphicyonidae, subfamily Amphicyoninae, from the Miocene epoch. Members of this family received their vernacular name for possessing bear-like and dog-like features. They ranged over North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Desmostylus is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammal of the family Desmostylidae living from the Chattian stage of the Late Oligocene subepoch through the Late Miocene subepoch and in existence for approximately 21.2 million years.
Kentriodon is an extinct genus of toothed whale related to modern-day dolphins. Fossils have been found in North America, Europe and Japan. Several species have been described.
Anthracotheriidae is a paraphyletic family of extinct, hippopotamus-like artiodactyl ungulates related to hippopotamuses and whales. The oldest genus, Elomeryx, first appeared during the middle Eocene in Asia. They thrived in Africa and Eurasia, with a few species ultimately entering North America during the Oligocene. They died out in Europe and Africa during the Miocene, possibly due to a combination of climatic changes and competition with other artiodactyls, including pigs and true hippopotamuses. The youngest genus, Merycopotamus, died out in Asia during the late Pliocene, possibly for the same reasons. The family is named after the first genus discovered, Anthracotherium, which means "coal beast", as the first fossils of it were found in Paleogene-aged coal beds in France. Fossil remains of the anthracothere genus were discovered by the Harvard University and Geological Survey of Pakistan joint research project (Y-GSP) in the well-dated middle and late Miocene deposits of the Pothohar Plateau in northern Pakistan.
Merycopotamus is an extinct genus of Asian anthracothere that appeared during the Middle Miocene, and died out in the Late Pliocene. At the height of the genus' influence, species ranged throughout South Asia. With the extinction of the last species, M. dissimilis, the lineage of anthracotheres came to an end. Merycopotamus was closely related to the anthracothere genus Libycosaurus, which, unlike the former, never left Africa. In fact, some African fossils originally placed in Merycopotamus, but are now referred to Libycosaurus.
Anthracothema was a genus of extinct artiodactyl ungulate mammals that lived in Myanmar during the late Eocene.
Ontocetus is an extinct genus of walrus, an aquatic carnivoran of the family Odobenidae, endemic to coastal regions of the southern North Sea and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the Miocene-Pleistocene. It lived from 13.6 mya—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately 13.3 million years.
Brachyhyops is an extinct genus of entelodont artiodactyl mammal that lived during the Eocene Epoch of western North America and southeastern Asia. The first fossil remains of Brachyhyops are recorded from the late Eocene deposits of Beaver Divide in central Wyoming and discovered by paleontology crews from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History during the early 20th century. The type species, Brachyhyops wyomingensis, is based on a single skull and was named by E.H. Colbert in 1937, but was not officially described until 1938. During the latter half of the 20th century, additional specimens from North America have been recorded from Saskatchewan and as far south as Texas, indicating that Brachyhyops had a broad distribution and was well-dispersed throughout western North America.
Ysengrinia is an extinct genus of carnivoran in the family Amphicyonidae, that lived during the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. Fossil remains have been discovered in Western Europe, the United States and possibly China. The European species are among the earliest known members of the Thaumastocyoninae, a group of aberrant amphicyonids showcasing hypercarnivorous adations, but are only known from fragmentary remains. The American species is much better preserved and shows a robust, black-bear sized predator. These fossils play an important role in our understanding of the biotic interchange between Eurasia and North America during the earliest Miocene. However, more recent research suggests that the genus might be polyphyletic, and that several of its species should be excluded from Ysengrinia.
Jaggermeryx is an extinct genus of semiaquatic anthracothere, ungulates related to hippopotamuses, from the Early Miocene Moghara Formation in Egypt. The genus was named after Mick Jagger.
Microbunodon was a genus of extinct artiodactyl mammals in the family Anthracotheriidae. It lived between the upper Eocene and the lower Pliocene. Its fossil remains have been found in Europe and Asia.
Paenanthracotherium was a genus of anthracothere that lived in Europe and Asia during the Oligocene.
Bachitherium is an extinct genus of Paleogene ruminants that lived in Europe from the late Eocene to the late Oligocene. The genus was erected in 1882 by Henri Filhol based on fossil remains found in the Quercy Phosphorites Formation. Bachitherium curtum was defined the type species, and another species called B. insigne; five more species have since been named although one, B. sardus, is currently pending reassessment. The genus name derives from "Bach", the French locality where its first fossils were found, and the Greek θήρ/therium meaning "beast". Bachitherium has historically been assigned to various families within the ruminant infrorder Tragulina, but was reclassified to its own monotypic family Bachitheriidae by Christine Janis in 1987.
Peignecyon is an extinct genus of large carnivorans belonging to the family Amphicyonidae. It belongs to the subfamily Thaumastocyoninae, which is characterized by their adaptions towards hypercarnivory. Whereas most other thaumastocyonines are often only known from fragmentary remains and isolated teeth, Peignecyon is known from a variety of well-preserved remains. It contains a single species, P. felinoides from the Early Miocene of the Czech Republic.
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