Anoplotheriidae
| Anoplotheriidae | ||||||||||||
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Skull of Anoplotherium commune |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Eocene to Upper Oligocene | ||||||||||||
| 48.6 to 25.6 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Anoplotheriidae | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1821 | ||||||||||||
The anoplotheriidae are an extinct family of cloven-hoofed animals (Artiodactyla). The animals were restricted to Europe and lived in the Eocene and Oligocene .
etymology
The family of the Anoplotheriidae, a word creation from the Greek with the meaning unarmed animals , was named after the type genus Anoplotherium .
history
Anoplotherium , the first anoplotheriide to be discovered in the gypsum quarries at Montmartre in Paris in 1804, was scientifically described by Georges Cuvier . The family of the Anoplotheriidae was established in 1821 by John Edward Gray , but it was wrongly assigned to the rhinos by him. Edward Drinker Cope recognized that they belonged to the ungulates in 1889 . Their correct assignment to the Tylopoda (calluses) was made in 1960 by Alfred Sherwood Romer , in 1988 by Robert L. Carroll and 2007 by JJ Hooker .
description
Anoplotheriidae were fairly large mainland herbivores . They formed a very original, Selenodontic family within the artifacts . In addition to selenodontia, its distinguishing features are four toes in the rear and five toes in the forefoot. The radius and ulna were not fused together and the metacarpal and metatarsal bones were also freely movable. The eye socket was not completely closed at the back and the wart part of the temporal bone protruded to the side.
Another feature is their very strong tail, which, in conjunction with other anatomical features, enabled them to stand up on their hind legs and thus get to leaf food at a height of over 2 meters.
Family relationships
The Anoplotheriidae were united by Jean Sudre in 1977 together with the family of the Cainotheriidae to the superfamily of the Anoplotheroidea . The family is divided into three subfamilies :
- Anoplotheriinae with the taxa
- Dacrytheriinae with
- Robiaciinae with
Carroll still mentions the taxa Diplartiopus and Hyracodontherium , the latter genus meanwhile being regarded as a synonym for Diplobune . Diploartiopus is a trace fossil from south-east France described by Paul Ellenberger .
Occurrence
The finds of Anoplotheriiden are limited to Europe . They occur in the following countries:
- Belgium - Belgian Basin (Hoogbutsel near Boutersem )
- Germany - Ronheim , Frohnstetten (column fillings in the Jura )
- England - Hampshire Basin ( Bembridge Limestone Formation , Bouldnor Formation , Headon Hill Formation - all Isle of Wight )
- France - Aquitaine basin (in the phosphorites of the Quercy near Aubrelong, Coanac, Le Brétou, Les Pradigues, Perrière, Sainte-Néboule, Sindou and others, in the southern Dordogne - Sainte-Capraise d'Eymet , in the Castres basin - Pont d 'Assou and many others), Paris basins ( Montmartre , Rosières ), Provence ( Saint-Saturnin-d'Apt - La Débruge), foothills of the Pyrenees ( Mas-Saintes-Puelles near Castelnaudary )
- Italy - in the lignites of the Cadibona Pass
- Portugal - Alta Beira Basin ( Côja near Coimbra )
- Switzerland - Egerkingen , Mormont / Eclépens , Mormont / Entreroches (crevices in the Jura)
- Spain - Almazán Basin ( Mazatéron ), Duero Basin (Caenes), Pyrenees - Grauss-Tremp Basin (Roc de Santa on the Noguera Pallaresa and Sossis)
Timeframe
The anoplotheriidae first emerged at the turn of Lower Eocene / Middle Eocene ( ypresian / lutetium ) when the land mammal zone MP11 of and the beginning Geiseltaliums on. Their last representatives died in the Upper Oligocene ( Chattian ) towards the end of the land mammal zone MP26 in Arvernium out. The family thus outlasted the period 48.6 to 25.6 million years BP .
swell
literature
- Carroll, Robert L .: Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution . WH Freeman and Company, 1987, ISBN 0-7167-1822-7 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sudre, J .: L'evolution du genre Robiacina Sudre 1969, et l'origine des Cainotheriidae; implications systematiques . In: Géobios, Mém. Spec. tape 1 , 1977, pp. 213-231 .