Pyrotheriidae

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Pyrotheriidae
Pyrotherium

Pyrotherium

Temporal occurrence
Eocene to Oligocene
48 to 21 million years
Locations
Systematics
Mammals (mammalia)
Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Laurasiatheria
South American ungulates (Meridiungulata)
Pyrotheria
Pyrotheriidae
Scientific name of the  order
Pyrotheria
Ameghino , 1895
Scientific name of the  family
Pyrotheriidae
Ameghino, 1889

The Pyrotheriidae are a group of extinct mammals that lived in South America in the Eocene and Oligocene and showed certain similarities to the elephants . However, they were not related to these, but are counted among the South American ungulates .

features

Pyrotheriids were massive animals with columnar legs and short, broad toes. The head sat on a short neck and probably had a short trunk. The incisors (four upper and two lower) were shaped like tusks and protruded forward, the molars were very wide and designed for plant food.

Pyrotherium , the most famous representative of this genus, lived in the lower Oligocene and reached a length of 3 meters and a shoulder height of 1.5 meters. Its name, which means "fire animal", comes from the fact that the first fossils were found in deposits of volcanic ash. Other genera of Pyrotheria were Propyrotherium , Carlozittelia and Griphodon .

Internal system

Compared to other orders of the South American ungulates, the Pyrotheriidae were relatively poor in species and only lived for a relatively short period of time. They are probably closely related to the Xenungulata , another order of this group, or have even evolved from them.

The internal system according to McKenna & Bell:

  • Order Pyrotheria Ameghino , 1895
  • Family Pyrotheriidae Ameghino , 1889

In particular, the inclusion of Proticia and Colombitherium in the Pyrotheria is viewed as critical due to the sparse finds and partly different tooth design.

literature

  • Thomas S. Kemp: The Origin & Evolution of Mammals . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005, ISBN 0-19-850761-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell: Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York, 1997, pp. 1-631 (p. 468)
  2. ↑ Guillerme Billet, Maëva Orliac, Pierre-Olivier Antoine and Carlos Jaramillo: New observations and reinterpretation on the enigmatic taxon Colombitherium (? Pyrotheria, Mammalia) from Colombia. Palaeontology 53 (2), 2010, pp. 319-325

Web links

Commons : Pyrotheria  - collection of images, videos and audio files