Thryonomyidae

Thryonomyidae is a family of hystricognath rodents that contains the cane rats (Thryonomys) found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, and a number of fossil genera.

Thryonomyidae

Mariomassone · 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
Also called
cane ratPBDB
Sits inside
HystricognathiPBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 103 occurrencesOligocene — about 8 of 103 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 49 of 103 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 103 occurrencesPleistocene — about 28 of 103 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–31 Mya — about 1 occurrence31–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–27 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 1 occurrence22–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–20 Mya — about 5 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 6 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 4 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 4 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences6.9–5.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 28 occurrences27.3 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

103 occurrences of Thryonomyidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

103 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

28 formations

Lower Manchar — 26.42°N, 67.83°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EWehaietu — 10.73°N, 40.42°EWehaietu — 10.90°N, 40.48°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°ELegetet — 0.18°S, 35.27°ELothidok — 3.33°N, 35.75°ELothidok — 3.22°N, 35.83°EBaynunah — 24.13°N, 53.10°EBaynunah — 24.11°N, 52.43°EBaynunah — 24.15°N, 52.98°EChorora — 10.67°N, 40.50°EShungura — 5.06°N, 36.03°EMaradah — 28.50°N, 20.00°ENakali — 1.18°N, 36.37°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°EVogel River Series — 3.22°S, 35.21°ETiim — 0.84°N, 35.82°ENawata — 2.90°N, 36.05°EDam — 25.98°N, 49.39°EJebel Qatrani — 29.45°N, 30.58°ESamlat — 23.54°N, 15.93°WSamlat — 23.49°N, 15.95°WSagantole — 10.50°N, 40.58°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EFejej — 5.00°N, 37.00°EUpper Koru Series — 0.23°S, 35.34°ENubia — 16.25°N, 33.75°EWembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Thryonomyidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 34 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Thryonomyidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Thryonomyidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

981 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 86 sites for Thryonomyidae, 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

59 references

Each of the 103 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. 47 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 content1

Picture of Thryonomyidae

Credit
Mariomassone
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Thryonomyidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itHystricognathi through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Pocock 1922