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⇱ Mesotheriidae


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Mesotheriidae

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Description

Mesotheriidae ("Middle Beasts") is an extinct family of notoungulate mammals known from the Eocene through the Pleistocene of South America. Mesotheriids were small to medium-sized herbivorous mammals adapted for digging.


Source Data
SourceIDLink
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)3240538https://www.gbif.org/species/3240538
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)43424https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43424
Rankfamily
Taxonomy (GBIF)Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Mesotheriidae
Taxonomy (PBDB)Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Notoungulata : Mesotheriidae
Taxonomic Status (GBIF)accepted
Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)
RankNameAuthor
-Eukaryota
-OpisthokontaCavalier-Smith 1987
kingdomAnimalia
-TriploblasticaLankester 1877
-NephrozoaJondelius et al. 2002
-DeuterostomiaGrobben 1908
phylumChordataHaeckel 1847
subphylumVertebrataLamarck 1801
superclassGnathostomataGegenbauer 1874
-Osteichthyes
-SarcopterygiiRomer 1955
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha
subclassTetrapodomorpha
-Tetrapoda
-ReptiliomorphaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-AnthracosauriaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-Batrachosauria
-Cotylosauria
-AmniotaHaeckel 1866
-SynapsidaOsborn 1903
-Therapsida
infraorderCynodontia
-EpicynodontiaHopson and Kitching 2001
infraorderEucynodontiaKemp 1982
-ProbainognathiaHopson 1990
-MammaliamorphaRowe 1988
-MammaliaformesRowe 1988
classMammaliaLinnaeus 1758
subclassTribosphenida
infraclassEutheria
orderNotoungulataRoth 1903
suborderTypotheriaZittel 1892
familyMesotheriidaeAlston 1876
Scientific NameMesotheriidae
Opinions (PBDB)
NameRankOpinionEvidenceAuthor
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Toxodontiastated without evidenceCope, 1889
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Notoungulatastated without evidenceSimpson and Minoprio, 1949
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Notoungulatastated with evidenceSimpson et al., 1962
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to TypotheroideaimpliedCarroll, 1988
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Notoungulatastated without evidenceMacFadden et al., 1993
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Typotheriastated without evidenceShockey et al., 2009
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Typotherioideastated without evidenceReguero and Prevosti, 2010
Mesotheriidaefamilybelongs to Typotheriastated with evidenceBillet, 2011
Status (PBDB)extant
Taxon Size (PBDB)45
Extant Size (PBDB)3 (6.7%)
First Recorded Appearance33.9 - 23.0 Ma
Cenozoic
Environmentterrestrial (based on Eutheria)
Motilityactively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)
Dietherbivore (based on Notoungulata)
Taphonomyphosphatic (based on Vertebrata)
Primary Reference (PBDB)R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution
Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesotheriidae

External Images

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Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

NameStatusCommon Name(s)Fossil OccurrencesOldestYoungest
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Mesotheriinae
subfamily
listed (PBDB)6523.0 Ma
Miocene
1.20 Ma
Pleistocene
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Trachytheriinae
subfamily
listed (PBDB)329.0 Ma
Oligocene
29.0 Ma
Oligocene
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Altitypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
317.5 Ma
Miocene
17.5 Ma
Miocene
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Caraguatypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
411.6 Ma
Miocene
11.6 Ma
Miocene
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Eotypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
117.5 Ma
Miocene
17.5 Ma
Miocene
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Hypsitherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
14.00 Ma
Pliocene
4.00 Ma
Pliocene
Mesotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)No associated record in PBDB
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Microtypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
416.3 Ma
Miocene
11.6 Ma
Miocene
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Plesiotypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
1416.0 Ma
Miocene
6.80 Ma
Miocene
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Pseudotypotherium
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
1711.6 Ma
Miocene
3.60 Ma
Pliocene
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Trachytherus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
2233.9 Ma
Oligocene
0 Ma
Extant

Synonymy List

YearName and Author
1876Mesotheriidae Alston
1889Mesotheriidae Cope p. 876
1949Mesotheriidae Simpson and Minoprio
1962Mesotheriidae Simpson et al.
1988Mesotheriidae Carroll
1993Mesotheriidae MacFadden et al. p. 235
2009Mesotheriidae Shockey et al.
2010Mesotheriidae Reguero and Prevosti
2011Mesotheriidae Billet

References

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698
Cope E. D. Synopsis of the families of Vertebrata, The American Naturalist 23, 1-29
Simpson G. G., Minoprio J. L. (1949) A new adianthine litoptern and associated mammals from a Deseadan faunule in Mendoza, Argentina, American Museum Novitates 1434, 1-27
Simpson G. G., Minoprio J. L., et al (1962) The mammalian fauna of the Divisadero Largo Formation, Mendoza, Argentina, Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 127 4, 239-293
MacFadden B. J., Anaya F., et al (1993) Magnetic polarity stratigraphy of Inchasi: a Pliocene mammal-bearing locality from the Bolivian Andes deposited just before the Great American Interchange, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 114 2-3, 229-241
Shockey B. J., Gismondi R. S., et al (2009) Paleontology and geochronology of the Deseadan (late Oligocene) of Moquegua, Peru, American Museum Novitates 3668, 1-24 doi:10.1206/662.1
Reguero M. A., Prevosti F. J. (2010) Rodent-like notoungulates (Typotheria) from Gran Barranca, Chubut Province, Argentina: phylogeny and systematics, The Paleontology of Gran Barranca: Evolution and Environmental Change through the Middle Cenozoic of Patagonia, 148-165
Billet G. (2011) Phylogeny of the Notoungulata (Mammalia) based on cranial and dental characters, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 9 4, 481-497
Benton, M.J. (ed). (1993). The Fossil Record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, 845 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
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