Macraucheniidae
| Macraucheniidae | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Macrauchenia patachonica skeleton |
||||||||||||
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Upper Paleocene to Upper Pleistocene | ||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Macraucheniidae | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1872 | ||||||||||||
The Macraucheniidae are an extinct family of the mammalian order Litopterna , which lived in South America during the Cenozoic and whose last representatives did not become extinct until the end of the Pleistocene .
The Macraucheniidae can be divided into three subfamilies and 16 genera. All known shapes were medium to very large. In terms of skull structure and dentition, the Macraucheniidae were less advanced than their related Proterotheriids . A shift of the nostril back to the center of the skull and a complete tooth formula are typical. Remains of this family are known from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia. The family has been recorded since the Upper Paleocene. With Macraucheniopsis ensenadensis ( Ensenadan ) and Macrauchenia patachonica (Ensenandan to Lujanian ) the family is occupied up to the Pleistocene. Sometimes another Pleistocene form Xenorhinotherium bahiense is differentiated from northeastern Brazil and Venezuela. However, this is considered by other authors to be identical to Machrauchenia patachonica .
Individual evidence
- ↑ CS Scherer, VG Pitana and AM Ribeiro: Proterotheriidae and Macraucheniidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) from the pleistocene of Rio Grande do sul State, Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia 12 (3) (2009), pp. 231–246 10.4072 / rbp.2009.3.06. PDF
