Oxydactylus

Oxydactylus is an extinct genus of camelid endemic to North America. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene, existing for approximately 14 million years. The name is from the Ancient Greek οξύς and δάκτυλος.

Oxydactylus

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
CamelidaePBDB
Diet
browser, browserPBDB, for Camelidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Camelidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Artiodactyla

Time the record covers

At least 7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 15.98 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 29.5 Mya to 5.333 Mya.

Oligocene — about 2 of 25 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 23 of 25 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 25 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 2 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 3 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 3 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–9.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.9–9.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.0–8.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.2–7.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.3–6.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences6.5–5.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.7–4.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23.04 Mya15.98 Mya30 Mya4.8 Mya

25 occurrences of Oxydactylus 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

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

Oakville — 30.30°N, 95.70°WRenova — 46.00°N, 112.00°WRenova — 45.20°N, 112.00°WHarrison — 42.40°N, 103.80°WRunningwater — 42.75°N, 102.02°WRunningwater — 42.49°N, 102.96°WRosarito Beach — 32.10°N, 116.80°WRosebud — 43.18°N, 102.30°WMarsland — 42.40°N, 103.80°WArikaree — 43.20°N, 107.10°WColter — 43.90°N, 110.80°WAbiquiu — 36.50°N, 107.00°WParachucla — 30.20°N, 82.80°WWildcat Hills Beds — 41.70°N, 103.67°WValentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Oxydactylus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Oxydactylus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Oxydactylus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

317 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 23 sites for Oxydactylus, 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

22 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. 10 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 Oxydactylus

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

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Oxydactylus sp · AMNH:FAM:36480

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 itCamelidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Peterson 1904