Palaeotherium

Palaeotherium is an extinct genus of equoid that lived in Europe and possibly the Middle East from the Middle Eocene to the Early Oligocene. It is the type genus of the Palaeotheriidae, a group exclusive to the Palaeogene that was closest in relation to the Equidae, which contains horses plus their closest relatives and ancestors. Fossils of Palaeotherium were first described in 1782 by the French naturalist Robert de Lamanon and then closely studied by another French naturalist, Georges Cuvier, after 1798. Cuvier erected the genus in 1804 and recognized multiple species based on overall fossil sizes and forms. As one of the first fossil genera to be recognized with official taxonomic authority, it is recognized as an important milestone within the field of palaeontology. The research by early naturalists on Palaeotherium contributed to the developing ideas of evolution, extinction, and succession and demonstrating the morphological diversity of different species within one genus.

Palaeotherium

Shadowgate from Novara, ITALY · CC BY 2.0 · 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
PalaeotheriinaePBDB
Diet
frugivore, folivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 7.1 million years on record.

The record covers at least 41.03 Mya to 33.9 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 27.3 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 157 occurrencesEocene — about 152 of 157 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 5 of 157 occurrencesOligocene57–56 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences56–55 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences52–51 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences49–48 Mya — about 2 occurrences48–47 Mya — about 5 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 5 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 5 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 5 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 5 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 5 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 9 occurrences41–40 Mya — about 16 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 16 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 16 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 16 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 16 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 16 occurrences35–34 Mya — about 13 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences41.03 Mya33.9 Mya56.6 Mya26.7 Mya

157 occurrences of Palaeotherium on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

157 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

15 formations

Castrais — 43.56°N, 2.18°ECastrais — 46.61°N, 2.24°ECastrais — 43.70°N, 2.20°ECastrais — 43.71°N, 2.14°EBembridge Limestone — 50.67°N, 1.53°WHeadon Hill — 50.72°N, 1.59°WHeadon Hill — 50.72°N, 1.18°WHeadon Hill — 50.71°N, 1.10°WHeadon Beds — 50.72°N, 1.59°WUpper Headon Beds — 50.63°N, 1.55°WCollegats — 42.25°N, 1.08°EPerrière — 44.38°N, 1.43°ESables du Castrais — 43.37°N, 1.99°ESables du Castrais — 43.78°N, 2.19°EEifel — 50.10°N, 6.84°ECoja — 40.27°N, 7.99°WBarton Clay — 50.79°N, 1.20°WBarton Clay — 50.74°N, 1.66°WCreechbarrow Limestone — 50.65°N, 2.12°WMazaterón — 41.53°N, 2.12°WElmore — 50.80°N, 1.20°WBouldnor — 50.71°N, 1.50°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Palaeotherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 107 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Palaeotherium and its relatives

Eocene

Where Palaeotherium and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

794 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 84 sites for Palaeotherium, 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

41 references

Each of the 157 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. 29 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 Palaeotherium

Credit
Shadowgate from Novara, ITALY
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Palaeotherium crassum · NHMUK:PAL:PV M 2444

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
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 itPalaeotheriinae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cuvier 1804