Otomys

African vlei rats (Otomys), also known as groove-toothed rats, live in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Most species live in marshlands, grasslands, and similar habitats and feed on the vegetation of such areas, occasionally supplementing it with roots and seeds. The name "vlei" refers to the South African term for intermittent, seasonal, or perennial bodies of standing water.

Otomys

JonRichfield · 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
Sits inside
MurinaPBDB
Diet
herbivore, insectivorePBDB, for Muridae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Muridae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 34 occurrencesPliocene — about 7 of 34 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 21 of 34 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 6 of 34 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.8–1.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 9 occurrences2.58 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

34 occurrences of Otomys 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

34 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

6 formations

Makapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°EOlorgesailie — 1.58°S, 36.41°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Otomys has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 18 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Otomys and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Otomys and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

362 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 30 sites for Otomys, 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

25 references

Each of the 34 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. 13 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 content2

Picture of Otomys

Credit
JonRichfield
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
Otomys irroratus · MVZ:Mamm:MVZ:Mamm:117728

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 itMurina through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Cuvier 1824