Hapalodectes

Hapalodectes is an extinct genus of otter-like mesonychians from the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene, some 55 million years ago. Although the first fossils were found in the Eocene strata of Wyoming, the genus originated in Mongolia, as the oldest species is H. dux, which was found in Late Paleocene strata in the Naran Bulak Formation.

Hapalodectes

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
HapalodectidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Hapalodectidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Hapalodectidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 11 million years on record.

The record covers at least 59.24 Mya to 48.07 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 61.66 Mya to 37.71 Mya.

Paleocene — about 6 of 25 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 19 of 25 occurrencesEocene62–61 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences61–60 Mya — about 1 occurrence60–60 Mya — about 1 occurrence60–59 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences59–58 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences58–57 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences57–56 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences56–56 Mya — about 2 occurrences56–55 Mya — about 3 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 3 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 3 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 3 occurrences52–51 Mya — about 3 occurrences51–51 Mya — about 1 occurrence51–50 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences49–48 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences48–47 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences46–46 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences41–41 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences41–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences59.24 Mya48.07 Mya62.2 Mya37.2 Mya

25 occurrences of Hapalodectes on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

25 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

13 formations

Willwood — 44.00°N, 108.00°WWillwood — 44.50°N, 108.00°WWillwood — 44.65°N, 109.93°WWillwood — 44.59°N, 108.86°WWillwood — 44.30°N, 109.00°WWasatch — 42.70°N, 110.10°WWasatch — 42.37°N, 108.91°WWind River — 43.20°N, 107.10°WWind River — 43.20°N, 108.20°WNaran Bulak — 43.47°N, 100.38°EChijiang — 25.50°N, 114.50°EChijiang — 25.44°N, 114.31°EHuerfano — 37.80°N, 105.10°WLushi — 34.05°N, 111.03°ELingcha — 27.08°N, 112.95°ENomogen — 43.53°N, 111.73°EShara Murum — 42.04°N, 111.53°EWutu — 36.52°N, 118.92°EDoumu — 30.76°N, 116.55°EArshanto — 43.33°N, 111.76°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Hapalodectes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Hapalodectes and its relatives

Eocene

Where Hapalodectes and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

456 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 24 sites for Hapalodectes, 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

20 references

Each of the 25 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. 8 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 content1

Picture of Hapalodectes

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Hapalodectes was found in Sketchfab.

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 itHapalodectidae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Matthew 1909