Astrapotheriidae is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

n land

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s that lived from the

Late Eocene The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans ...

(

Mustersan The Mustersan age is a period of geologic time (48.0–42.0 Mya (unit), Ma) within the Eocene epoch of the Paleogene, used more specifically within the South American land mammal age (SALMA) classification. It follows the Casamayoran and precedes th ...

SALMA) to the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

(

Laventan The Laventan () age is a period of geologic time (13.8 to 11.8 Ma) within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colloncuran and precedes the Mayoan age. ...

SALMA) . The most derived of the

astrapotheria Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American and Antarctic hoofed mammals that existed from the late Paleocene to the Middle Miocene, ."The uruguaytheriine Astrapotheriidae from the rich middle Miocene Honda Group of the upper Magdalena R ...

ns, they were also the largest and most specialized mammals in the

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

of South America. There are two sister taxa: Eoastrapostylopidae and Trigonostylopidae. Around 1900, Argentine paleontologist

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino; September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especial ...

described eight

Colhuehuapian The Colhuehuapian age is a period of geologic time (21.0–17.5 Ma) within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Deseadan and precedes the Santacrucian ag ...

(Early Miocene) species from specimens he found south of Lake Colhué Huapi in

Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...

and grouped them into three genera: '' Parastrapotherium'', '' Astrapotherium'', and '' Astrapothericulus''. It was obvious to Ameghino that these species represented a great diversity, ranging in size from a

peccary Peccaries (also javelinas or skunk pigs) are pig-like ungulates of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North America. Peccari ...

to a

rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

, but his description was based entirely on fragmentary and not always comparable dental remains. Other expeditions to Patagonia have subsequently recovered considerably more complete materials.

Genera

According to , Astrapotheriidae includes two clades, Astrapotheriinae and Uruguaytheriinae, and a number of early genera (Astrapotheriidae ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

''): ''Astraponotus'' (Middle Eocene), '' Maddenia'' (Early Oligocene), and ''Parastrapotherium'' (Late Oligocene-Early Miocene). Most genera have been found in Patagonia and adjacent areas in Argentina and Chile; whereas members of Uruguaytheriinae have been found further north: ''Xenastrapotherium'' (Late Oligocene-Middle Miocene of northern South America), ''Granastrapotherium'' (Middle Miocene of Colombia), ''Uruguaytherium'' (uncertain age, from Uruguay). According to , the genus ''Maddenia'' is a small, pre-

Deseadan The Deseadan () age is a period of geologic time (29.0–21.0 Ma) within the Oligocene epoch of the Paleogene to the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It follows the Tingu ...

form of later astrapotheriids. grouped ''Albertogaudrya'' together with ''Astraponotus'' in the subfamily Albertogaudryinae, synonymous with ''Albertogaudryidae'' . concluded that a comprehensive evaluation is required regarding astrapotherids. * ''

Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'' ** '' Parastrapotherium'' ** '' Antarctodon'' ** '' Comahuetherium'' ** '' Liarthrus'' ** '' Maddenia'' * Subfamily Albertogaudryinae ** '' Albertogaudrya'' ** '' Astraponotus'' * Subfamily Astrapotheriinae ** '' Astrapothericulus'' ** '' Astrapotherium'' ** '' Scaglia'' * Subfamily Uruguaytheriinae ** '' Uruguaytherium'' ** '' Granastrapotherium'' ** '' Xenastrapotherium'' ** '' Hilarcotherium''

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

* Astrapotheriidae occurrences distribution map * . Retrieved 9 March 2013. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3627610 Astrapotheria Eocene first appearances Miocene extinctions Prehistoric mammal families