Leptomeryx

Leptomeryx is an extinct genus of artiodactyl that lived in North America during the middle Eocene through early Miocene. One of the earliest ruminants, it belongs to the extinct family Leptomerycidae, which is related to today's chevrotains. Most fossils were found in the badlands of the Midwestern United States in sedimentary rocks of the White River Group, in the Brule and Chadron formations. Additional remains have been reported from southern Canada and Mexico. The genus was scientifically described in 1853 by Joseph Leidy and includes several species.

Leptomeryx

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
LeptomerycidaePBDB
Diet
frugivorePBDB, for Leptomerycidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Leptomerycidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 33.9 Mya to 23.1 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 39.7 Mya to 18.5 Mya.

Eocene — about 83 of 143 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 57 of 143 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 2 of 143 occurrencesMiocene40–39 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences39–39 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences37–37 Mya — about 13 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 20 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 20 occurrences35–34 Mya — about 20 occurrences34–34 Mya — about 17 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 15 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 15 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 8 occurrences31–31 Mya — about 4 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 4 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences28–28 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–22 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences33.9 Mya23.1 Mya40.2 Mya18 Mya

143 occurrences of Leptomeryx on record. 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

143 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

Brule — 42.90°N, 105.20°WBrule — 42.80°N, 103.10°WBrule — 40.80°N, 103.10°WBrule — 43.90°N, 102.40°WBrule — 43.30°N, 102.50°WBrule — 46.90°N, 102.80°WBrule — 43.20°N, 103.20°WBrule — 43.85°N, 102.50°WBrule — 46.40°N, 103.30°WBrule — 42.85°N, 103.82°WBrule — 43.80°N, 103.10°WWhite River — 43.20°N, 107.10°WWhite River — 43.20°N, 108.20°WWhite River — 40.80°N, 103.10°WWhite River — 41.80°N, 107.00°WWhite River — 40.97°N, 106.22°WChadron — 42.00°N, 104.20°WChadron — 42.40°N, 103.80°WChadron — 42.80°N, 103.10°WChadron — 42.80°N, 103.40°WChadron — 42.90°N, 105.20°WChadron — 45.47°N, 112.62°WChadron — 46.10°N, 103.30°WChadron — 42.75°N, 103.65°WCypress Hills — 49.57°N, 109.88°WCypress Hills — 49.80°N, 109.00°WCypress Hills — 49.60°N, 108.80°WRenova — 46.00°N, 112.00°WRenova — 45.90°N, 112.25°WCook Ranch — 45.00°N, 112.80°WClimbing Arrow — 46.00°N, 112.00°WClimbing Arrow — 45.93°N, 111.62°WFlorissant — 38.93°N, 105.28°WSage Creek — 45.00°N, 112.80°WDunbar Creek — 45.70°N, 111.00°WKishenehn — 49.10°N, 114.50°WPreitos — 29.80°N, 104.50°WTitus Canyon — 36.83°N, 117.02°WGering — 41.70°N, 103.10°WHarrison — 42.40°N, 103.80°WJohn Day — 44.70°N, 119.63°WCatahoula — 31.66°N, 88.66°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Leptomeryx has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 23 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

687 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 110 sites for Leptomeryx, 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

53 references

Each of the 143 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. 41 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 Leptomeryx

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

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Leptomeryx sp. · uf:uf

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 itLeptomerycidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Leidy 1853