Neochoerus aesopi

Neochoerus aesopi is an extinct species of relatively large rodent that lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch until its extinction about 12,000 years ago. Belonging to the subfamily Hydrochoerinae, it is closely related to the modern capybaras of the genus Hydrochoerus. Fossils of it have been found in U.S. states such as Florida and South Carolina. The species was originally outlined in 1853. It weighed about 80 kg, being similar in size to the modern-day capybara.

No picture of Neochoerus aesopi was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Neochoerus aesopi, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
NeochoerusPBDB
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 1.6 million years on record.

The record covers at least 1.8 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 4.7 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Pliocene — about 1 of 20 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 19 of 20 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 20 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.3–4.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.0–3.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.8–3.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.6–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.9–2.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.6–2.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.4–2.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.9–1.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.2–1.0 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences1.0–867 ka Mya — about 0.7 occurrences867 ka–693 ka Mya — about 0.9 occurrences693 ka–520 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence520 ka–347 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence347 ka–173 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences173 ka–0 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.8 Mya129 ka5.2 Mya0 Mya

20 occurrences of Neochoerus aesopi on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. 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

20 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

7 formations

Ten Mile Hills Beds — 32.91°N, 80.02°WWando — 32.88°N, 80.10°WWando — 32.82°N, 80.03°WChapala — 20.30°N, 103.20°WWaccamaw — 33.63°N, 78.95°WTen Mile Hill Beds — 32.98°N, 80.17°WBacons Castle — 38.16°N, 76.83°WSopas — 32.05°S, 56.12°W

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The named rock units Neochoerus aesopi has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 11 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Neochoerus aesopi and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Neochoerus aesopi and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

469 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 20 sites for Neochoerus aesopi, 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

11 references

Each of the 20 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 content0

No picture of Neochoerus aesopi was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Neochoerus aesopi, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Neochoerus aesopi 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 itNeochoerus through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Leidy 1853)