Bothriodontinae

The bothriodontines are a paraphyletic assemblage of anthracotheres that originated from Eurasia in the late middle Eocene (Bartonian). The group can be distinguished from other anthracothere lineages by their upper molars having a mesostyle occupied by a transverse valley, selenodont cusps, a ventrally concave symphysis, elongated muzzles, and a diastema between the canine and first premolar tooth. During their evolution, the bothriodontines evolved from small basal forms such as Qatraniodon into larger taxa such as Libycosaurus and Merycopotamus. In some genera, the snouts became even more elongated and teeth specialized in a folivorous diet, while others like Merycopotamus developed wide, heavy, and shallow muzzles with teeth more adapted for grazing.

Bothriodontinae

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AnthracotheriidaePBDB
Diet
browserPBDB, for Anthracotheriidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Anthracotheriidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 30 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 7.246 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 48.07 Mya to 5.333 Mya.

Eocene — about 21 of 120 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 45 of 120 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 54 of 120 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 120 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 1 occurrence40–39 Mya — about 1 occurrence39–37 Mya — about 3 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 6 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 6 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 7 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 6 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 6 occurrences30–28 Mya — about 5 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 6 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 6 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 6 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 6 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 3 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 6 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 8 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 9 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 6 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 1 occurrence12–10 Mya — about 3 occurrences10–8.9 Mya — about 4 occurrences8.9–7.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences7.4–6.0 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.0–4.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence37.71 Mya7.246 Mya48.9 Mya4.5 Mya

120 occurrences of Bothriodontinae on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

120 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

41 formations

Jebel Qatrani — 29.64°N, 30.58°EJebel Qatrani — 29.43°N, 30.58°EJebel Qatrani — 29.45°N, 30.58°ECypress Hills — 49.57°N, 109.88°WCypress Hills — 49.80°N, 109.00°WCypress Hills — 49.60°N, 108.80°WBrule — 46.90°N, 102.80°WBrule — 43.30°N, 102.50°WBrule — 43.80°N, 103.10°WNa Duong — 21.70°N, 106.97°ENa Duong — 21.84°N, 106.08°EErgilin Dzo — 43.37°N, 108.66°EErgilin Dzo — 43.73°N, 111.25°EErgilin Dzo — 43.73°N, 111.21°EDhok Pathan — 33.63°N, 72.52°EDhok Pathan — 33.19°N, 72.49°EKakara — 1.00°N, 30.50°EBeglia — 34.00°N, 8.00°ELumeiyi — 24.76°N, 103.33°EBurgeschleinitz — 48.64°N, 15.81°EMoghara — 30.38°N, 28.82°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°ENagri — 32.77°N, 72.50°ESage Creek — 45.00°N, 112.80°WArikaree — 46.40°N, 103.30°WGering — 41.70°N, 103.10°WSespe — 34.25°N, 118.96°WSharps — 43.30°N, 102.50°W"Kisegi, Kakara, Lower Oluka" — 1.00°N, 30.50°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°EYokawa — 34.89°N, 135.18°EMelker Sand — 48.29°N, 15.59°EShumaysi — 21.68°N, 39.75°E

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The named rock units Bothriodontinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 17 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 55 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Bothriodontinae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Bothriodontinae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,264 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 109 sites for Bothriodontinae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

85 references

Each of the 120 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 73 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Bothriodontinae

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Bothriodontinae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAnthracotheriidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Scott 1940