| Messelobunodon Temporal range: Early Eocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Messelobunodon schaeferi | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | † Dichobunidae |
| Genus: | † Messelobunodon Franzen, 1980 |
| Species | |
| |
Messelobunodon is an extinct genus of early even-toed ungulate. [1]
The Messel pit is a disused quarry near the village of Messel about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved fossils dating from the middle of the Eocene, it has significant geological and scientific importance. Over 1000 species of plants and animals have been found at the site. After almost becoming a landfill, strong local resistance eventually stopped these plans and the Messel pit was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 9 December 1995. Significant scientific discoveries about the early evolution of mammals and birds are still being made at the Messel pit, and the site has increasingly become a tourist site as well.
Dichobunidae is an extinct family of basal artiodactyl mammals from the early Eocene to late Oligocene of North America, Europe, and Asia. The Dichobunidae include some of the earliest known artiodactyls, such as Diacodexis.
Jens Lorenz Franzen was a German paleontologist. He was the head of Paleoanthropology and Quaternary at Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt and participated in fossil excavation in Germany. He worked with scientific excavations and discovered many previously unknown fossil mammal species.
Dacrytherium is an extinct genus of Paleogene artiodactyls belonging to the family Anoplotheriidae. It occurred from the middle to late Eocene of western Europe and is the type genus of the subfamily Dacrytheriinae, the older of the two anoplotheriid subfamilies. Dacrytherium was first erected in 1876 by the French palaeontologist Henri Filhol, who recognized in his studies that it had dentition similar to the anoplotheriids Anoplotherium and Diplobune but differed from them by a deep preorbital fossa, where the genus name derives from. Since then, there are currently four valid species within the genus, of which D. ovinum is the type species.
 | This prehistoric even-toed ungulate-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |