Notoungulates – literally “southern ungulates.” – may be the most emblematic of all extinct South American mammals. Notoungulates were the most abundant of the native South American ungulates, and probably more species of notoungulates have been named than all other groups of endemic ungulates combined. The group includes more than 150 extinct genera in around a dozen families. Notoungulates lived […]
You can’t talk about fossils without talking about time, and mammalian paleontologists (also known as paleomammalogists) generally have two different ways to talk about how long ago an animal lived. The first way is to discuss age in terms of absolute time: saying a fossil is 25 million years old, for instance. The only way to […]
The basal notoungulate families Henricosborniidae and Notostylopidae are mainly known from Eocene fossil sites. Henricosborniids have also been identified from at least one Paleocene site (Tiupampa), and notostylopids survived into the early Oligocene based on a recently named species from Chile, Chilestylops davidsoni (Bradham et al. 2015). The cheek teeth of notostylopids are rather distinctive (see Simpson 1948 for […]
Mesotheriids, more commonly known as mesotheres, have been known to science longer than almost any other group of notoungulates. The first mesotheriid, Mesotherium, was named by Serres in 1867. At that time, only the toxodontids Toxodon and Nesodon had been named and described. Mesotherium was named “middle beast” in reference to Serres’ belief that it represented an evolutionary intermediate […]
The Interatheriidae (interatheres) are perhaps the most successful group of notoungulates; they are the longest-ranging of all notoungulate families, and nearly two dozen genera have been described (though it is unclear how many of these are valid). Moreover, interatheriids are often very abundant in the faunas in which they are found, suggesting high population densities; […]
When I tell people I am a paleontologist and that I go out on “digs,” they usually think I spend most of the trip literally digging in one place for fossils. This happens occasionally but is not typical of my fieldwork. Most of my time in the field is spent looking for fossils; relatively little […]
In 2019, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History exhibited a small “pop-up” exhibit highlighting our NSF-sponsored research on Miocene mammals from Quebrada Honda, Bolivia. You can view the video from the exhibit below.
Want to learn more about the fossil history of South American mammals? Check out my blog, The Rafting Monkey. My posts discuss the latest research on South American mammals and fossil mammal sites as well as interesting tidbits from the archives of paleomammalogy. You can visit periodically to see what is new or sign up to get an email alert every […]
NEW BOOK: Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys
Do you know what a notoungulate is? How about an astrapothere, a necrolestid, or a sparassodont? These are just a few of the fascinating mammals that once called South America home. Unfortunately, these and many other ancient South American mammals left no living descendants and have no close living relatives. As a result, they are […]
Notoungulates – literally “southern ungulates.” – may be the most emblematic of all extinct South American mammals. Notoungulates were the most abundant of the native South American ungulates, and probably more species of notoungulates have been named than all other groups of endemic ungulates combined. The group includes more than 150 extinct genera in around a dozen families. Notoungulates lived […]
You can’t talk about fossils without talking about time, and mammalian paleontologists (also known as paleomammalogists) generally have two different ways to talk about how long ago an animal lived. The first way is to discuss age in terms of absolute time: saying a fossil is 25 million years old, for instance. The only way to […]
Hegetotheriids (also known as hegetotheres) were small to medium-sized mammals that ranged from the size of a rabbit (probably about 12-16″/30-40 cm ) to a beaver (about 3 feet/1 m long). Some hegetotheres were very rabbit-like in both their skull and skeleton (pachyrukhines; see below), whereas others had proportions more similar to a large rodent such […]
Basal typotheres (Oldfieldthomasiidae, Archaeopithecidae)
The evolutionary relationships of most notoungulates are not entirely clear. This is particularly true for notoungulates that diverged prior to the split between typotheres and toxodonts (basal notoungulates) and early members of the Typotheria (basal typotheres). Basal typotheres are generally placed in the families Oldfieldthomasiidae and Archaeopithecidae, but although some phylogenetic analysis have found these to be […]
Notoungulates – literally “southern ungulates.” – may be the most emblematic of all extinct South American mammals. Notoungulates were the most abundant of the native South American ungulates, and probably more species of notoungulates have been named than all other groups of endemic ungulates combined. The group includes more than 150 extinct genera in around a dozen families. Notoungulates lived […]
Basal Notoungulates (Henricosborniidae, Notostylopidae)
The basal notoungulate families Henricosborniidae and Notostylopidae are mainly known from Eocene fossil sites. Henricosborniids have also been identified from at least one Paleocene site (Tiupampa), and notostylopids survived into the early Oligocene based on a recently named species from Chile, Chilestylops davidsoni (Bradham et al. 2015). The cheek teeth of notostylopids are rather distinctive (see Simpson 1948 for […]
Mesotheriids, more commonly known as mesotheres, have been known to science longer than almost any other group of notoungulates. The first mesotheriid, Mesotherium, was named by Serres in 1867. At that time, only the toxodontids Toxodon and Nesodon had been named and described. Mesotherium was named “middle beast” in reference to Serres’ belief that it represented an evolutionary intermediate […]
The Interatheriidae (interatheres) are perhaps the most successful group of notoungulates; they are the longest-ranging of all notoungulate families, and nearly two dozen genera have been described (though it is unclear how many of these are valid). Moreover, interatheriids are often very abundant in the faunas in which they are found, suggesting high population densities; […]
Archaeohyracids (“ancient hyraxes”) are in no way related to true hyraxes (order Hyracoidea), nor do they closely resemble them. They have traditionally been one of the most poorly known groups of notoungulates; they tend to be rare in most faunas, and only a single skull (the holotype of Archaeohyrax patagonicus, at left) had been described until […]
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Typotheria Stratigraphic Range: early Oligocene (Tinguirirican) to early Pleistocene (Marplatan) Selected Genera: Hegetotherium, Hemihegetotherium, Paedotherium, Prohegetotherium, Propachyrucos, Pachyrukhos, Tremacyllus Selected References: Cerdeño, E., and M. Bond. 1998. Taxonomic revision and phylogeny of Paedotherium and Tremacyllus (Pachyrukhinae, Hegetotheriidae, Notoungulata) from the late Miocene to Pleistocene of Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate […]
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Toxodontia Stratigraphic Range: Selected Genera: Selected References:
Isotemnids were the common large (relatively speaking) notoungulates of the Eocene, and are last recorded in rocks of early Oligocene age. As originally conceived, they do not constitute a natural (monophyletic) group; rather, they include a collection of early-diverging members of the suborder Toxodontia and perhaps one or more other traditionally-recognized families (see Billet 2011). Given […]
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Toxodontia Stratigraphic Range: Selected Genera: Selected References:
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Toxodontia Stratigraphic Range: Selected Genera: Selected References:
Coming soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Toxodontia Stratigraphic Range: Selected Genera: Selected References:
Hegetotheriids (also known as hegetotheres) were small to medium-sized mammals that ranged from the size of a rabbit (probably about 12-16″/30-40 cm ) to a beaver (about 3 feet/1 m long). Some hegetotheres were very rabbit-like in both their skull and skeleton (pachyrukhines; see below), whereas others had proportions more similar to a large rodent such […]
Basal typotheres (Oldfieldthomasiidae, Archaeopithecidae)
The evolutionary relationships of most notoungulates are not entirely clear. This is particularly true for notoungulates that diverged prior to the split between typotheres and toxodonts (basal notoungulates) and early members of the Typotheria (basal typotheres). Basal typotheres are generally placed in the families Oldfieldthomasiidae and Archaeopithecidae, but although some phylogenetic analysis have found these to be […]
Notoungulates – literally “southern ungulates.” – may be the most emblematic of all extinct South American mammals. Notoungulates were the most abundant of the native South American ungulates, and probably more species of notoungulates have been named than all other groups of endemic ungulates combined. The group includes more than 150 extinct genera in around a dozen families. Notoungulates lived […]
Basal Notoungulates (Henricosborniidae, Notostylopidae)
The basal notoungulate families Henricosborniidae and Notostylopidae are mainly known from Eocene fossil sites. Henricosborniids have also been identified from at least one Paleocene site (Tiupampa), and notostylopids survived into the early Oligocene based on a recently named species from Chile, Chilestylops davidsoni (Bradham et al. 2015). The cheek teeth of notostylopids are rather distinctive (see Simpson 1948 for […]
Mesotheriids, more commonly known as mesotheres, have been known to science longer than almost any other group of notoungulates. The first mesotheriid, Mesotherium, was named by Serres in 1867. At that time, only the toxodontids Toxodon and Nesodon had been named and described. Mesotherium was named “middle beast” in reference to Serres’ belief that it represented an evolutionary intermediate […]
The Interatheriidae (interatheres) are perhaps the most successful group of notoungulates; they are the longest-ranging of all notoungulate families, and nearly two dozen genera have been described (though it is unclear how many of these are valid). Moreover, interatheriids are often very abundant in the faunas in which they are found, suggesting high population densities; […]
Archaeohyracids (“ancient hyraxes”) are in no way related to true hyraxes (order Hyracoidea), nor do they closely resemble them. They have traditionally been one of the most poorly known groups of notoungulates; they tend to be rare in most faunas, and only a single skull (the holotype of Archaeohyrax patagonicus, at left) had been described until […]
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Typotheria Stratigraphic Range: early Oligocene (Tinguirirican) to early Pleistocene (Marplatan) Selected Genera: Hegetotherium, Hemihegetotherium, Paedotherium, Prohegetotherium, Propachyrucos, Pachyrukhos, Tremacyllus Selected References: Cerdeño, E., and M. Bond. 1998. Taxonomic revision and phylogeny of Paedotherium and Tremacyllus (Pachyrukhinae, Hegetotheriidae, Notoungulata) from the late Miocene to Pleistocene of Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate […]
Coming Soon. Classification: Order Notoungulata; Suborder Toxodontia Stratigraphic Range: Selected Genera: Selected References:
Isotemnids were the common large (relatively speaking) notoungulates of the Eocene, and are last recorded in rocks of early Oligocene age. As originally conceived, they do not constitute a natural (monophyletic) group; rather, they include a collection of early-diverging members of the suborder Toxodontia and perhaps one or more other traditionally-recognized families (see Billet 2011). Given […]