Dolichotis

Dolichotis is a genus of the cavy family of rodents. These large relatives of guinea pigs are common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina, but also live in Paraguay and elsewhere in South America. It contains a single extant species, the Patagonian mara, which is one of the largest rodents in the world after the two species each of capybaras and beavers, and the large species of porcupines, reaching about 45 cm (18 in) in height.

Dolichotis

Diana · 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 4.9 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 8 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 2 of 19 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 7 of 19 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 9 of 19 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 2 of 19 occurrences8.2–7.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.9–7.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.7–7.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.4–7.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.1–6.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences6.8–6.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences6.5–6.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences6.2–6.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences6.0–5.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.7–5.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.4–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.8–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.0–3.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.7–3.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.4–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.8–2.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.3–2.0 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.0–1.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences1.7–1.4 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences1.4–1.1 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences1.1–850 ka Mya — about 0.6 occurrences850 ka–567 ka Mya — about 0.5 occurrences567 ka–283 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence283 ka–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences5 Mya11.7 ka8.5 Mya0 Mya

19 occurrences of Dolichotis on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. 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

19 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

11 formations

Lujan — 38.57°S, 58.70°WLujan — 34.60°S, 59.15°WSan Andres — 38.18°S, 57.65°WSan Andres — 38.12°S, 57.70°WChiquimil — 27.11°S, 66.83°WYupoi — 28.60°S, 59.03°WVorohué — 38.03°S, 57.72°WLuján — 37.00°S, 60.38°WAndalhuala — 27.22°S, 66.93°WBarranca de los Lobos — 38.12°S, 57.70°WPampean — 38.19°S, 57.68°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°WDolores — 34.28°S, 55.92°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Dolichotis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 5 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dolichotis and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Dolichotis and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

197 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 19 sites for Dolichotis, 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

15 references

Each of the 19 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. 3 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 Dolichotis

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

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Dolichotis salinicola · ummz:mammals:125578

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Desmarest 1820