Paraceratheriidae

Paraceratheres, historically also called indricotheres and baluchitheres, are long-limbed and hornless rhinocerotoids belonging to the family Paraceratheriidae. Paraceratheres were native to Asia and Eastern Europe, originated in the Eocene epoch and lived until the beginning of the Miocene. They represent some of the largest terrestrial mammals to have ever lived.

Paraceratheriidae

MikSed · CC BY-SA 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
RhinocerotoideaPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB, for Ceratomorpha
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Ceratomorpha
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 20.45 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 15.98 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 112 occurrencesEocene — about 51 of 112 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 54 of 112 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 7 of 112 occurrencesMiocene57–55 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences48–47 Mya — about 2 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 3 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 3 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 3 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 3 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 3 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 3 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 4 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 8 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 8 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 6 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 4 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 4 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 4 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 4 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 10 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 12 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 12 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 5 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 1 occurrence19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences48.07 Mya20.45 Mya56.8 Mya15.2 Mya

112 occurrences of Paraceratheriidae on record, most of them in the Oligocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. 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

112 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

41 formations

Taoshuyuanzi — 45.87°N, 90.17°EUlan Gocho — 42.63°N, 111.35°EShara Murum — 42.63°N, 111.35°EShara Murum — 42.04°N, 111.53°EXianshuihe — 36.06°N, 103.79°EXianshuihe — 36.33°N, 103.90°EXianshuihe — 36.20°N, 103.44°EChitarwata — 28.85°N, 69.12°EChitarwata — 30.08°N, 70.33°EWulanbulage — 39.83°N, 108.73°EWulanbulage — 40.33°N, 107.00°EWulanbulage — 39.65°N, 106.68°EErgilin Dzo — 43.73°N, 111.25°EErgilin Dzo — 43.37°N, 108.66°EWulidun — 32.37°N, 113.40°EArshanto — 43.65°N, 111.98°EArshanto — 40.00°N, 111.00°EArshanto — 43.33°N, 111.76°EJiaozigou — 35.67°N, 103.38°EQingshuiying — 43.43°N, 111.70°EQingshuiying — 38.10°N, 106.33°EShawan — 44.00°N, 85.50°EShawan — 45.00°N, 85.00°EAral — 46.80°N, 60.58°ENaogangdai — 42.04°N, 111.53°ELoh — 45.49°N, 101.20°ECaijiachong — 25.39°N, 103.95°ECaijiachong — 25.62°N, 104.22°EAktau — 44.33°N, 78.43°EAktau — 45.27°N, 78.48°EHouldjin — 43.65°N, 111.98°EHouldjin — 42.00°N, 112.00°EDongjun — 23.58°N, 107.23°EIrdin Manha — 43.33°N, 111.76°EUlan Shireh — 44.13°N, 103.56°ELumeiyi — 24.76°N, 103.33°ELinxia — 36.06°N, 103.79°ELushi — 34.05°N, 111.03°E

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The named rock units Paraceratheriidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 17 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 21 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Paraceratheriidae and its relatives

Oligocene

Where Paraceratheriidae and its relatives were recorded in the Oligocene.

Found in the same rock

490 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 87 sites for Paraceratheriidae, 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

56 references

Each of the 112 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. 44 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 Paraceratheriidae

Credit
MikSed
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Paraceratheriidae 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 itRhinocerotoidea through timeFormations of the OligoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Osborn 1923