Dorcatherium

Dorcatherium is an extinct genus of tragulid ruminant which existed in Europe, East Africa, and the Siwaliks during the Miocene and possibly Pliocene.

Dorcatherium

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
TragulidaePBDB
Diet
frugivore, grazerPBDB, for Tragulidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Tragulidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 8.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 7.246 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 2.58 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 166 occurrencesMiocene — about 165 of 166 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 166 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 166 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–21 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 5 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 5 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 5 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 9 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 14 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 19 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 19 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 14 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 9 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 8 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 6 occurrences11–9.9 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.9–9.2 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.2–8.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences8.5–7.8 Mya — about 6 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences7.1–6.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.4–5.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.7–4.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.5–2.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15.98 Mya7.246 Mya23.5 Mya2.1 Mya

166 occurrences of Dorcatherium 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

166 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

33 formations

Maboko — 0.13°S, 34.61°EMaboko — 0.17°N, 34.62°EMaboko — 0.15°N, 34.62°EChinji — 32.68°N, 72.37°EChinji — 32.93°N, 71.66°EChinji — 32.79°N, 72.93°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°ELothidok — 3.33°N, 35.75°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°EXiacaowan — 33.45°N, 118.20°EDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°ENagri — 32.77°N, 72.50°EDhok Pathan — 33.63°N, 72.52°EChinji — 32.82°N, 75.37°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 47.92°N, 10.59°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.15°N, 9.88°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EAntonios — 40.50°N, 23.00°EDytiko — 40.88°N, 22.55°EDytiko — 40.84°N, 22.56°EVille — 50.90°N, 6.45°EStudienka — 48.20°N, 17.00°EBakate — 4.27°N, 36.60°EVihowa — 30.08°N, 70.33°EKeramaria — 38.31°N, 26.13°EUpper — 32.89°N, 73.20°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°ENgorora — 0.90°N, 35.85°EUpper Koru Series — 0.23°S, 35.34°ETurkana Grit — 2.33°N, 35.83°EErgene — 41.20°N, 27.83°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Dorcatherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 9 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 81 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dorcatherium and its relatives

Miocene

Where Dorcatherium and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,502 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 113 sites for Dorcatherium, 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

86 references

Each of the 166 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. 74 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 content2

Picture of Dorcatherium

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
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
Dorcatherium majus · YPM:VP:YPM VP 020153

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itTragulidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kaup 1839