Enhydriodon

Enhydriodon is an extinct genus of otters known from Africa and South Asia that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene. It contains nine confirmed species, two debated species, and at least a few other undescribed species from Africa. The genus name means "otter tooth" in Ancient Greek and is a reference to its dentition rather than to the Enhydra genus, which includes the modern sea otter and its two prehistoric relatives. Enhydriodon belongs to the tribe Enhydriodontini in the otter subfamily Lutrinae.

Enhydriodon

Authors: Alberto Valenciano, Romala Govender E. hendeyi (then S. hendeyi): not mentioned. E. africanus (then S. afric… · CC BY 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
Sits inside
LutrinaePBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Mustelidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Mustelidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 774 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 30 occurrencesMiocene — about 6 of 30 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 22 of 30 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 30 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–9.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.6–8.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.8–8.0 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences8.0–7.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences7.3–6.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.5–5.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.7–4.9 Mya — about 4 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.2–3.4 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.4–2.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences2.6–1.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.8–1.1 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences1.1–274 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.333 Mya – 2.58 Mya23.5 Mya274 ka

30 occurrences of Enhydriodon on record, most of them in the Pliocene. 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

30 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

17 formations

Varswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EHadar — 11.14°N, 40.58°EHadar — 11.08°N, 40.68°EKanapoi — 2.37°N, 36.08°EKanapoi — 2.32°N, 36.07°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°ELukeino — 0.50°N, 35.67°EUSNO — 5.35°N, 36.17°EPinjor — 30.73°N, 76.78°EVarswater & Bredasdorp — 32.98°S, 18.15°EMuluk — 30.42°N, 30.25°EWarwire — 1.50°N, 31.00°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EShagou — 25.70°N, 101.87°EAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EDhok Pathan — 32.83°N, 73.33°ETatrot — 31.02°N, 73.78°EPinjor — 30.69°N, 77.20°EMagabet — 0.67°N, 35.83°E

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The named rock units Enhydriodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Enhydriodon and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Enhydriodon and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

407 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 28 sites for Enhydriodon, 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

22 references

Each of the 30 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. 10 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 Enhydriodon

Credit
Authors: Alberto Valenciano, Romala Govender E. hendeyi (then S. hendeyi): not mentioned. E. africanus (then S. afric…
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Enhydriodon was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itLutrinae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Falconer 1868