Rhynchotherium

Rhynchotherium is an extinct genus of gomphothere endemic to the southern USA and Mexico from the Miocene to the Early Pleistocene. This temporal range also corresponds from the late Hemphillian faunal stage (Hh4) to the Late Blancan faunal stage, with Rhynchotherium being considered by some researchers as a taxon emblematic of the Blancan faunal stage. Rhynchotherium had two tusks and likely evolved from Gomphotherium.

Rhynchotherium

Margret Flinsch · Public Domain · 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
GomphotheriidaePBDB
Diet
browser, grazerPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 210 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 38 occurrencesMiocene — about 22 of 38 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 11 of 38 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 5 of 38 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.333 Mya – 2.58 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

38 occurrences of Rhynchotherium 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

38 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

14 formations

Rancho Viejo Beds — 21.08°N, 100.67°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.10°N, 100.80°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.00°N, 100.70°WGracias — 14.60°N, 88.50°WGracias — 14.70°N, 88.60°WCoal Valley — 38.50°N, 118.30°WHerreria — 15.60°N, 88.90°WStarlight — 42.80°N, 112.90°WHorned Toad — 35.30°N, 118.50°W? Gila Conglomerate — 33.00°N, 109.10°WGila Conglomerate — 32.84°N, 110.00°WBallard — 37.20°N, 100.30°WPalomas — 34.00°N, 107.00°WBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WGoleta — 19.70°N, 101.12°WCurré — 8.86°N, 83.08°WGoose Creek — 33.00°N, 80.18°W

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The named rock units Rhynchotherium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

228 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 37 sites for Rhynchotherium, 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

27 references

Each of the 38 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. 15 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 Rhynchotherium

Credit
Margret Flinsch
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

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 itGomphotheriidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Falconer 1868