Bovidae

Bovidae is the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and goat-antelopes such as sheep and goats. There are 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species of bovids, which are divided into either 11 major subfamilies, or two subfamilies with 13 tribes. The earliest known bovid had evolved by 20 million years ago, in the early Miocene.

Bovidae

MathKnight · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
Also called
antelopePBDB
Sits inside
BovoideaPBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 6357 occurrencesPaleocene — about 0 of 6357 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 0 of 6357 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 7 of 6357 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 936 of 6357 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 947 of 6357 occurrencesPleistocene — about 3826 of 6357 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences58–56 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences52–49 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences47–45 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 3 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 4 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 9 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 16 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 23 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 69 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 129 occurrences11–9.0 Mya — about 187 occurrences9.0–6.7 Mya — about 298 occurrences6.7–4.5 Mya — about 409 occurrences4.5–2.2 Mya — about 1285 occurrences2.2–0 Mya — about 3922 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka67 Mya0 Mya

6,357 occurrences of Bovidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

6,357 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

220 formations

Koobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 3.86°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.23°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.36°EKoobi Fora — 3.75°N, 36.34°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.95°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 3.73°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.70°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 3.57°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°ENachukui — 3.88°N, 35.72°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 4.15°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.23°N, 35.81°ENachukui — 4.10°N, 35.77°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.76°ENachukui — 3.08°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.67°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.41°N, 35.83°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.92°ENachukui — 3.68°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 3.95°N, 35.45°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.02°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.01°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.01°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.23°S, 36.19°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EOlduvai — 2.97°S, 35.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.44°EChiwondo — 9.92°S, 34.92°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EChiwondo — 9.83°S, 34.83°EChiwondo — 10.33°S, 34.17°EChiwondo — 10.00°S, 33.92°EChiwondo — 10.05°S, 33.96°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.45°EWehaietu — 10.73°N, 40.42°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.47°EWehaietu — 10.72°N, 40.50°EWehaietu — 10.32°N, 40.55°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°EMytilinii — 37.75°N, 26.89°EMytilinii — 37.74°N, 26.89°ENgorora — 0.90°N, 35.85°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EWembere-Manonga — 3.86°S, 33.71°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.85°EWembere-Manonga — 4.03°S, 33.77°EWembere-Manonga — 3.92°S, 33.87°EWembere-Manonga — 3.09°S, 33.73°EChemoigut — 0.65°N, 36.20°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.88°N, 36.07°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EGebel Silsila-YCS — 24.50°N, 33.00°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°EAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EAdu-Asa — 10.37°N, 40.23°EAdu-Asa — 10.43°N, 40.42°ENubia — 16.25°N, 33.75°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Bovidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 196 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 3,236 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Bovidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Bovidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,748 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 498 sites for Bovidae, and this reads 240 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

967 references

Each of the 6,357 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. 955 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 content3

Picture of Bovidae

Credit
MathKnight
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Bovidae indet. · pu:vpl:RN17

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
catensen
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itBovoidea through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1821