Paucituberculata

Paucituberculata is an order of South American marsupials. Although currently represented only by the seven living species of shrew opossums, this order was formerly much more diverse, with more than 60 extinct species named from the fossil record, particularly from the late Oligocene to early Miocene epochs. The earliest paucituberculatans date to the late Paleocene. The group went through a pronounced decline in the middle Miocene epoch, which resulted in the extinction of all families of this order except for the living shrew opossums (Caenolestidae). Extinct families of Paucituberculatans include Pichipilidae, Palaeothentidae, and Abderitidae.

Paucituberculata

Jbritomolina · 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
MarsupialiaPBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB, for Marsupialia
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Marsupialia
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Mammalia

Time the record covers

At least 43 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 3 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 225 occurrencesEocene — about 13 of 225 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 45 of 225 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 163 of 225 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 4 of 225 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 225 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 1 occurrence39–37 Mya — about 2 occurrences37–35 Mya — about 2 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 4 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 7 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 7 occurrences30–28 Mya — about 9 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 8 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 7 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 6 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 6 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 15 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 83 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 41 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 6 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 6 occurrences11–9.3 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences9.3–7.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.5–5.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.6–3.8 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences48.07 Mya5 Mya57 Mya2 Mya

225 occurrences of Paucituberculata on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

225 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

29 formations

Santa Cruz — 51.02°S, 69.15°WSanta Cruz — 51.20°S, 69.12°WSanta Cruz — 50.32°S, 68.90°WSanta Cruz — 50.35°S, 69.03°WSanta Cruz — 50.85°S, 69.13°WSanta Cruz — 50.60°S, 69.08°WSanta Cruz — 51.57°S, 69.42°WSanta Cruz — 51.57°S, 69.47°WSanta Cruz — 48.52°S, 69.72°WSanta Cruz — 50.00°S, 70.00°WSanta Cruz — 50.16°S, 69.67°WSanta Cruz — 51.05°S, 69.13°WSanta Cruz — 50.05°S, 71.78°WSanta Cruz — 50.75°S, 69.18°WSanta Cruz — 51.35°S, 69.00°WSanta Cruz — 50.28°S, 70.28°WSanta Cruz — 50.28°S, 70.22°WSanta Cruz — 49.56°S, 70.06°WSarmiento — 45.23°S, 67.49°WSarmiento — 45.67°S, 68.67°WSarmiento — 44.59°S, 69.10°WSarmiento — 43.28°S, 65.48°WPinturas — 48.90°S, 70.17°WPinturas — 48.97°S, 71.40°WPinturas — 46.96°S, 70.61°WPinturas — 47.03°S, 70.67°WPinturas — 48.08°S, 70.08°WPozo — 7.33°S, 74.95°WPozo — 6.58°S, 76.28°WRío Frias — 44.58°S, 71.22°WChambira — 7.32°S, 74.93°WChambira — 7.35°S, 74.95°WCollón Cura — 42.65°S, 69.70°WCollón Cura — 40.39°S, 70.21°WGalera — 46.90°S, 72.30°WCollon Cura — 42.58°S, 70.33°WCerro Bandera — 38.92°S, 69.58°WCerro Bandera — 38.88°S, 69.47°WSalla — 17.18°S, 67.63°WAndesitas Huancache — 42.78°S, 69.86°WSalla Beds — 17.00°S, 67.00°WSalla Beds — 17.18°S, 67.62°WYahuarango — 9.49°S, 72.76°WCerro Azul — 37.73°S, 63.53°WCerro Azul — 36.70°S, 64.28°WSolimões — 9.19°S, 72.71°WSolimões — 9.41°S, 72.72°WItaboraí — 22.84°S, 42.88°WIrene — 38.83°S, 60.54°WIpururo — 6.59°S, 76.31°WUmala — 18.83°S, 66.15°WChucal — 18.53°S, 69.17°WCura-Mallín — 37.65°S, 71.23°WLa Victoria — 3.30°N, 75.15°WLas Flores — 45.60°S, 69.08°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Paucituberculata has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 10 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Paucituberculata and its relatives

Miocene

Where Paucituberculata and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

947 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 80 sites for Paucituberculata, 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

50 references

Each of the 225 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. 38 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 Paucituberculata

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

No 3D scan of Paucituberculata 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 itMarsupialia through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Ameghino 1894)