Anthracotheriidae

Anthracotheriidae is a paraphyletic family of extinct, hippopotamus-like artiodactyl ungulates related to hippopotamuses and whales. The oldest genus, Elomeryx, first appeared during the middle Eocene in Asia. They thrived in Africa and Eurasia, with a few species ultimately entering North America during the Oligocene. They died out in Europe and Africa during the Miocene, possibly due to a combination of climatic changes and competition with other artiodactyls, including pigs and hippopotamuses. The youngest genus, Merycopotamus, died out in Asia during the late Pliocene, possibly for the same reasons. The family is named after the first genus discovered, Anthracotherium, which means "coal beast", as the first fossils of it were found in Paleogene-aged coal beds in France. Fossil remains of the anthracothere genus were discovered by the Harvard University and Geological Survey of Pakistan joint research project (Y-GSP) in the well-dated middle and late Miocene deposits of the Pothohar Plateau in northern Pakistan.

Anthracotheriidae

Dmitry Bogdanov · CC BY 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
Also called
anthracotherePBDB
Sits inside
HippopotamoideaPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 30 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 7.246 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 5.333 Mya.

Paleocene — about 0 of 438 occurrencesEocene — about 130 of 438 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 148 of 438 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 160 of 438 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 438 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 3 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 4 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 4 occurrences43–41 Mya — about 4 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 23 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 27 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 27 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 30 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 25 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 22 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 19 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 19 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 29 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 29 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 20 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 16 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 27 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 30 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 25 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 19 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 13 occurrences11–9.6 Mya — about 6 occurrences9.6–7.8 Mya — about 6 occurrences7.8–6.1 Mya — about 6 occurrences6.1–4.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences37.71 Mya7.246 Mya57 Mya4 Mya

438 occurrences of Anthracotheriidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

438 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

99 formations

Pondaung — 21.75°N, 94.67°EPondaung — 21.70°N, 94.76°EPondaung — 21.62°N, 94.85°EPondaung — 21.72°N, 94.68°EPondaung — 21.95°N, 94.57°EPondaung — 21.90°N, 94.57°EPondaung — 21.97°N, 94.47°EChitarwata — 28.85°N, 69.12°EChitarwata — 28.95°N, 69.20°EChitarwata — 30.08°N, 70.33°EVihowa — 30.08°N, 70.33°EManchar — 26.33°N, 67.83°EBrule — 40.80°N, 103.10°WBrule — 43.30°N, 102.50°WBrule — 46.90°N, 102.80°WBrule — 43.85°N, 102.50°WBrule — 43.80°N, 103.10°WJebel Qatrani — 29.64°N, 30.58°EJebel Qatrani — 29.45°N, 30.58°EJebel Qatrani — 29.43°N, 30.58°EJebel Qatrani — 29.50°N, 30.50°EChadron — 43.60°N, 102.45°WChadron — 42.80°N, 103.40°WChadron — 46.10°N, 103.30°WChadron — 43.30°N, 102.50°WChadron — 42.00°N, 104.20°WCypress Hills — 50.00°N, 107.90°WCypress Hills — 49.57°N, 109.88°WCypress Hills — 49.80°N, 109.00°WCypress Hills — 49.60°N, 108.80°WHeti — 35.09°N, 111.86°EHeti — 34.80°N, 111.91°EHeti — 35.03°N, 111.80°EErgilin Dzo — 43.40°N, 109.10°EErgilin Dzo — 43.37°N, 108.66°EErgilin Dzo — 43.34°N, 109.13°EErgilin Dzo — 43.73°N, 111.25°EErgilin Dzo — 43.73°N, 111.21°EHedi — 34.80°N, 111.91°EHedi — 35.03°N, 111.80°ENadu — 23.67°N, 107.25°EYongning — 22.82°N, 108.32°ELothidok — 3.33°N, 35.75°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°ENa Duong — 21.70°N, 106.97°ENa Duong — 21.84°N, 106.08°ESharps — 43.30°N, 102.50°WLumeiyi — 24.76°N, 103.33°EMoghara — 30.38°N, 28.82°EGongkang — 23.83°N, 106.90°EGongkang — 24.12°N, 106.62°EKrabi Basin B2 — 7.97°N, 99.06°ENagri — 32.77°N, 72.50°EDhok Pathan — 33.63°N, 72.52°EDhok Pathan — 33.19°N, 72.49°E"Brian Head" — 37.80°N, 111.50°WRenova — 45.20°N, 112.00°WRenova — 46.40°N, 112.80°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Anthracotheriidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 75 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 150 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Anthracotheriidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Anthracotheriidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,161 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 326 sites for Anthracotheriidae, and this reads 240 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

191 references

Each of the 438 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. 179 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 Anthracotheriidae

Credit
Dmitry Bogdanov
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Anthracotheriidae sp. · dpc:13454

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 itHippopotamoidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Leidy 1869