Toxodontidae

Extinct family of notoungulate mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toxodontidae (from Ancient Greek τόξον (tóxon), meaning "bow", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth") is an extinct family of notoungulate mammals, known from the Oligocene to the Holocene (11,000 BP) of South America,[1] with one genus, Mixotoxodon, also known from the Pleistocene of Central America and southern North America (as far north as Texas).[2] Member of the family were medium to large-sized,[3] ranging from around 350–400 kilograms (770–880 lb) in Nesodon to 1,000–1,200 kilograms (2,200–2,600 lb) in Toxodon,[4] and had medium to high-crowned dentition, which in derived members of the group evolved into ever-growing cheek teeth.[5]

Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Notoungulata
Clade:Eutoxodontia
Quick facts Scientific classification, Subfamilies and genera ...
Toxodontidae
Temporal range: Late Oligocene-Holocene (Deseadan-Lujanian)
~27–0.011 Ma
Toxodon platensis
Skeleton of Nesodon imbricatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Notoungulata
Clade: Eutoxodontia
Family: Toxodontidae
Owen, 1845
Subfamilies and genera

Haplodontheriinae

  • Abothrodon
  • Haplodontherium
  • Mesotoxodon
  • Ocnerotherium
  • Toxodontherium

Nesodontinae

Toxodontinae

Close
Xotodon sp. skull at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

Isotopic analyses have led to the conclusion that Pleistocene members of the family were flexible mixed feeders (both browsing and grazing).[6][7] The family's dietary ecology shifted over time; δ13C ratios show them being mainly browsers in the Miocene and becoming increasingly grazing animals during the Pliocene and especially the Pleistocene epochs.[8]

Taxonomy

The endemic notoungulate and litoptern ungulates of South America have been shown by studies of collagen and mitochondrial DNA sequences to be a sister group to the perissodactyls.[9][10][11]

In 2014, a study identifying a new species of toxodontid resolved the families' phylogenetic relations. The below cladogram was found by the study:[12]

Pampahippus arenalesi

References

Further reading

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