Thallomys

Thallomys is a genus of rodent in the family Muridae endemic to Africa. It contains four species:Loring's rat Black-tailed tree rat Acacia rat Shortridge's rat

Thallomys

Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 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
MuridaePBDB
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 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 27 occurrencesPliocene — about 12 of 27 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 14 of 27 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 1 of 27 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.5–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–1.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.4–1.2 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.2–972 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence3.6 Mya11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

27 occurrences of Thallomys 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

27 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

5 formations

Vogel River Series — 3.23°S, 35.22°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.13°S, 35.13°EShungura — 5.08°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.03°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.27°N, 36.29°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°E

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The named rock units Thallomys has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Thallomys and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Thallomys and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

328 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 27 sites for Thallomys, 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

14 references

Each of the 27 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. 2 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 Thallomys

Credit
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Thallomys nigricauda · ummz:mammals:113430

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 itMuridae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Thomas 1920