Dolichotinae

Maras, subfamily Dolichotinae, are a group of rodents in the family Caviidae. These large relatives of guinea pigs are common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina, but also live in Paraguay and elsewhere in South America. The two extant species are the Patagonian mara and the Chacoan mara. Traditionally, both species have been included in the genus Dolichotis, but a 2020 study by the American Society of Mammalogists found significant difference to warrant resurrecting the genus Pediolagus for the Chacoan mara. Several extinct genera are also known.

Dolichotinae

Rei at English Wikipedia · 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
Also called
maraPBDB
Sits inside
CaviidaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB, for Caviidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Caviidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 13.8 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 23 of 28 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 2 of 28 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 28 occurrencesPleistocene14–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 3 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–10 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences10–9.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.5–9.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences9.1–8.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.6–8.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.1–7.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences7.6–7.2 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.2–6.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.7–6.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences6.2–5.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.7–5.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.2–4.8 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences4.8–4.3 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.3–3.8 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.3–2.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.9–2.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences477 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences11 Mya11.7 ka14.3 Mya0 Mya

28 occurrences of Dolichotinae 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

8 formations

Villavieja — 3.32°N, 75.13°WVillavieja — 3.26°N, 75.18°WVillavieja — 3.22°N, 75.22°WLa Victoria — 2.12°N, 75.92°WLa Victoria — 3.20°N, 75.20°WLa Victoria — 3.37°N, 75.15°WLa Victoria — 3.35°N, 75.14°WPuerto Madryn — 42.78°S, 63.68°WSolimoes — 10.93°S, 69.92°WSolimoes — 10.12°S, 66.88°WLuján — 35.83°S, 58.02°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WLa Huertita — 34.91°S, 68.50°WSanta Vitória — 33.74°S, 53.37°W

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The named rock units Dolichotinae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dolichotinae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Dolichotinae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

362 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 16 sites for Dolichotinae, 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

9 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 content1

Picture of Dolichotinae

Credit
Rei at English Wikipedia
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Dolichotinae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itCaviidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.