Hipparion

Hipparion is an extinct genus of three-toed, medium-sized equine belonging to the extinct tribe Hipparionini, which lived about 10-5 million years ago. While the genus formerly included most hipparionines, the genus is now more narrowly defined as hipparionines from Eurasia spanning the Late Miocene. Hipparion was a mixed-feeder who ate mostly grass, and lived in the savannah biome. Hipparion evolved from Cormohipparion, and went extinct due to environmental changes like cooling climates and decreasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

Hipparion

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
HipparioniniPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Equinae
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 12.5 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 660 occurrencesMiocene — about 333 of 660 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 165 of 660 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 162 of 660 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 2 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 15 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 28 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 32 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 34 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 35 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 45 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 35 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 34 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 34 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 42 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 40 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 50 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 70 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 85 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 39 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 8 occurrences12.5 Mya774 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

660 occurrences of Hipparion 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

660 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

122 formations

Shungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.01°EShungura — 5.09°N, 36.06°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.98°N, 36.32°EKoobi Fora — 4.22°N, 36.43°EKoobi Fora — 3.94°N, 36.25°EKoobi Fora — 4.30°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.06°N, 36.33°EKoobi Fora — 3.77°N, 36.39°EVogel River Series — 3.23°S, 36.19°EVogel River Series — 3.24°S, 35.22°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EBahe — 33.50°N, 109.50°EBahe — 34.15°N, 109.33°ENkondo — 1.50°N, 31.00°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.18°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.00°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.17°N, 35.78°ENachukui — 4.10°N, 35.77°EOlduvai — 2.97°S, 35.32°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.42°ESagantole — 10.48°N, 40.60°ESagantole — 10.62°N, 40.58°ESagantole — 10.63°N, 40.54°ESagantole — 10.45°N, 40.45°ESagantole — 10.47°N, 40.50°EAlfambra — 40.48°N, 2.66°WAlfambra — 40.39°N, 2.61°WAlfambra — 40.50°N, 1.02°WDytiko — 40.88°N, 22.55°EDytiko — 40.84°N, 22.56°EMytilinii — 37.75°N, 26.89°EMytilinii — 37.74°N, 26.89°EAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.00°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WAsh Hollow — 43.20°N, 100.70°WVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EKakara — 1.00°N, 30.50°ELantian — 34.20°N, 109.26°ELantian — 34.20°N, 109.50°EMint Canyon — 34.47°N, 118.44°WMint Canyon — 34.47°N, 118.50°WRavin de Ratavoux — 43.78°N, 5.45°ERavin de Ratavoux — 43.78°N, 5.42°ECoal Valley — 38.50°N, 118.30°WDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EAdu-Asa — 10.37°N, 40.23°EAdu-Asa — 10.43°N, 40.42°EChiwondo — 9.83°S, 34.83°EChiwondo — 10.33°S, 34.17°EChiwondo — 10.05°S, 33.96°ENea Messimvria — 40.77°N, 22.75°ENea Messimvria — 40.74°N, 22.86°EVathylakkos — 40.75°N, 22.75°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Hipparion has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 98 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 240 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Hipparion and its relatives

Miocene

Where Hipparion and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,094 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 578 sites for Hipparion, 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

263 references

Each of the 660 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. 251 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 Hipparion

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

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Hippotherium (Hipparion) primigenium · ucbl:fsl:210356

3D model

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

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 itHipparionini through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. de Christol 1832