Cainotherium

Cainotherium is an extinct genus of rabbit-sized prehistoric even-toed ungulates. These herbivores lived in Europe from the Eocene until the early Miocene. The skeletal anatomy of these hare-like animals suggest they, along with other members of Cainotheriidae, belong to the artiodactyl suborder Tylopoda, together with oreodonts and modern camelids. Species had cloven hooves, similar to those of bovids or deer, although the shape and length of the limbs suggests that the living animals moved by leaping, like a rabbit. The shape of the teeth also suggests a rabbit-like diet of nibbled vegetation, while the size of the auditory bulla and shape of the brain suggest that it would have had good senses of hearing and smell.

Cainotherium

Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions · 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
CainotheriinaePBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Artiodactyla
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Artiodactyla
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 23 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 13.82 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 5.333 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 46 occurrencesEocene — about 3 of 46 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 4 of 46 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 39 of 46 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 46 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences43–41 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–24 Mya — about 1 occurrence24–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–18 Mya — about 5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 7 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 11 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 8 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–9.6 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences9.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.8–6.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.1–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences37.71 Mya13.82 Mya57 Mya4 Mya

46 occurrences of Cainotherium 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

46 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

6 formations

Brackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.66°N, 10.23°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°ECórcoles — 40.47°N, 2.68°WMiocene Lower Continental Complex — 41.44°N, 2.00°ELower Freshwater Molasse — 46.88°N, 7.11°EDetritic-Carbonated Unit of Subirats — 41.42°N, 1.81°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Cainotherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 38 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cainotherium and its relatives

Miocene

Where Cainotherium and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

631 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 39 sites for Cainotherium, 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

30 references

Each of the 46 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. 18 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 Cainotherium

Credit
Internet Archive Book Images
Licence
No restrictions
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

No 3D scan of Cainotherium 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 itCainotheriinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bravard 1828