Toxodon

Toxodon is an extinct genus of large ungulate native to South America from the Pliocene to the end of the Late Pleistocene. Toxodon is a member of Notoungulata, an order of extinct South American native ungulates distinct from the two living ungulate orders that had been indigenous to the continent for over 60 million years since the early Cenozoic, prior to the arrival of living ungulates into South America around 2.5 million years ago during the Great American Interchange. Toxodon is a member of the family Toxodontidae, which includes medium to large sized herbivores. Toxodon was one of the largest members of Toxodontidae and Notoungulata, with Toxodon platensis having an estimated body mass of 1,000–1,200 kilograms (2,200–2,600 lb).

Toxodon

WereSpielChequers · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
ToxodontidaePBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Eutheria
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria
Length
2.7 mWikidata
Mass
1415 kgWikidata

Time the record covers

At least 5.2 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 87 occurrencesMiocene — about 3 of 87 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 87 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 79 of 87 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 9 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 60 occurrences5.333 Mya129 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

87 occurrences of Toxodon on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. 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

87 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

23 formations

Lujan — 36.78°S, 59.87°WLujan — 38.57°S, 58.70°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.12°S, 60.43°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.07°S, 60.55°WSalto Ander Egg — 32.28°S, 60.37°WDolores — 34.42°S, 56.26°WDolores — 34.38°S, 57.88°WDolores — 34.44°S, 57.20°WNuapua — 20.75°S, 63.07°WNuapua — 20.87°S, 63.07°WSolimões — 8.99°S, 72.70°WSolimões — 9.36°S, 72.72°WSolimões — 6.50°S, 69.67°WTarija — 21.53°S, 64.73°WTarija — 21.50°S, 64.75°WSuelo — 28.60°S, 59.03°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WYupoi — 28.60°S, 59.03°WTouro Passo — 30.75°S, 53.75°WTouro Passo — 29.67°S, 56.87°WSopas — 30.43°S, 56.45°WInaja — 9.07°S, 38.31°WVorohué — 38.03°S, 57.72°WAgua Blanca — 38.48°S, 61.80°WFortin Tres Pozos — 26.60°S, 58.67°WChaco — 24.25°S, 66.92°WTezanos Pinto — 31.41°S, 62.14°WCerro Azul — 38.76°S, 62.16°WChapadmalal — 38.12°S, 57.70°WSanta Vitória — 33.74°S, 53.37°WLibertad — 34.53°S, 56.18°WUrundel — 22.58°S, 63.86°WBajada Grande — 33.93°S, 68.46°W

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The named rock units Toxodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 43 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Toxodon and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Toxodon and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

495 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 76 sites for Toxodon, 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

63 references

Each of the 87 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. 51 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 Toxodon

Credit
WereSpielChequers
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Toxodon platensis · FCS-P.161

3D model

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

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 itToxodontidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Owen 1837