Potamon

Potamon is a genus of freshwater or semiterrestrial crabs mainly found from Southern Europe through the Middle East, and as far east as north-western India. The only exception is the North African P. algeriense, which also is the only potamid of mainland Africa. Twenty species are currently recognised. These crabs are omnivores that have a broad ecological tolerance. The adult Potaman reach up to 50 mm in size during their 10-12 year life span.

Potamon

Photo by Fabio Liverani ( http://www.fabioliverani.com ) uploaded by Esculapio · CC BY-SA 2.5 · 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
PotaminaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Decapoda
Life habit
infaunalPBDB, for Potamidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Malacostraca
Vision
well-developedPBDB, for Malacostraca

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 13.82 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 28 occurrencesMiocene — about 21 of 28 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 28 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 5 of 28 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 1 occurrence15–14 Mya — about 1 occurrence14–13 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.4–1.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence13.82 Mya2.58 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

28 occurrences of Potamon on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

28 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

5 formations

Upper Freshwater-Molasse — 47.67°N, 8.93°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.09°N, 10.03°EGleisdorf — 47.10°N, 15.43°EPinjor — 30.76°N, 76.90°EBenot Ya'aqov — 33.13°N, 35.62°E

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The named rock units Potamon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Potamon and its relatives

Miocene

Where Potamon and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

198 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 27 sites for Potamon, 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

3 references

Each of the 28 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. 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 Potamon

Credit
Photo by Fabio Liverani ( http://www.fabioliverani.com ) uploaded by Esculapio
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D scan

Licence
CC0 — this site’s default, not the record’s
Commercial use
the licence allows it
Specimen
Potamon (Acanthothelphusa) niloticum

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 itPotaminae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Savigny 1816