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Protoceratidae ✝

Photos

Photo Gallery

Pseudoprotoceras longinaris

Dawes County, Nebraska, USA

Syndyoceras sp.

Sioux County, Nebraska, USA

Pseudoprotoceras longinaris

Dawes County, Nebraska, USA

Syndyoceras sp.

Sioux County, Nebraska, USA

Pseudoprotoceras longinaris

Dawes County, Nebraska, USA

Syndyoceras sp.

Sioux County, Nebraska, USA

Description

Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene at around 46.2—4.9 Mya, existing for about 41 million years.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protoceratidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	3240275	https://www.gbif.org/species/3240275
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	42572	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42572

Rank

family

Taxonomy (GBIF)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Artiodactyla : Protoceratidae

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Artiodactyla : Protoceratidae

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Synapsida	Osborn 1903
-	Therapsida
infraorder	Cynodontia
-	Epicynodontia	Hopson and Kitching 2001
infraorder	Eucynodontia	Kemp 1982
-	Probainognathia	Hopson 1990
-	Mammaliamorpha	Rowe 1988
-	Mammaliaformes	Rowe 1988
class	Mammalia	Linnaeus 1758
subclass	Tribosphenida
infraclass	Eutheria
order	Ungulata
order	Artiodactyla	Owen 1848
-	Ruminantiamorpha	Spaulding et al. 2009
family	Protoceratidae	Marsh 1891

Common Name

protoceratid

Scientific Name

Protoceratidae

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Artiodactyla	stated without evidence	Marsh, 1891
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Pecora	stated without evidence	Cook, 1934
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Hypertraguloidea	stated with evidence	Scott, 1940
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Ruminantia	stated without evidence	Thurmond and Jones, 1981
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Tylopoda	implied	Carroll, 1988
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Tylopoda	stated with evidence	Webb et al., 2003
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Artiodactyla	implied	Hulbert and Whitmore, 2006
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Artiodactyla	stated without evidence	Prothero and Ludtke, 2007
Protoceratidae	family	belongs to Ruminantiamorpha	stated with evidence	Spaulding et al., 2009

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

First Recorded Appearance

46.2 - 40.4 Ma
Eocene

Last Recorded Appearance

5.33 - 3.60 Ma
Neogene

Environment

terrestrial (based on Artiodactyla)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

browser

Ecospace Comments

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Protoceratinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	26	33.9 Ma Oligocene	13.6 Ma Miocene
Synthetoceratinae ✝ subfamily	listed (PBDB)	70	24.8 Ma Oligocene	5.33 Ma Miocene
Calops ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
Heteromeryx ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	5	40.4 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene
Kyptoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	3	10.3 Ma Miocene	5.33 Ma Miocene
Lambdoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	9	23.0 Ma Miocene	16.0 Ma Miocene
Leptoreodon ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	72	46.2 Ma Eocene	40.4 Ma Eocene
Leptotragulus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	16	46.2 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene
Paratoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	12	30.8 Ma Oligocene	13.6 Ma Miocene
Poabromylus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	6	46.2 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene
Prosynthetoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	36	23.0 Ma Miocene	16.0 Ma Miocene
Protoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	13	33.9 Ma Oligocene	20.4 Ma Miocene
Pseudoprotoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	22	40.4 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene
Syndyoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	7	24.8 Ma Oligocene	24.8 Ma Oligocene
Synthetoceras ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	14	23.0 Ma Miocene	10.3 Ma Miocene
Toromeryx ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	46.2 Ma Eocene	46.2 Ma Eocene
Trigenicus ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	15	37.2 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1891	Protoceratidae Marsh p. 81
1902	Leptotragulinae Hay p. 674
1908	Leptotragulinae Matthew p. 561
1934	Protoceratidae Cook p. 149
1940	Protoceratidae Scott p. 561
1955	Leptotragulinae Gazin
1976	Leptotragulinae Golz

Year	Name and Author
1981	Protoceratidae Thurmond and Jones p. 188
1981	Leptotragulinae Webb p. 363
1988	Protoceratidae Carroll
2003	Protoceratidae Webb et al. p. 349
2006	Protoceratidae Hulbert and Whitmore p. 7
2007	Protoceratidae Prothero and Ludtke p. 175
2009	Protoceratidae Spaulding et al.

References

Marsh O. C. A horned artiodactyle (Protoceras celer) from the Miocene, The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 41 241, 81-82

Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868

Matthew W. D. (1908) Osteology of Blastomeryx and phylogeny of the American Cervidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 24 27, 535-562

Cook H. J. (1934) New artiodactyls from the Oligocene and Lower Miocene of Nebraska, American Midland Naturalist 15 2, 148-165

Scott W. B. (1940) The mammalian fauna of the White River Oligocene; Part 4, Artiodactyla; Part 5, Perissodactyla, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 28 4, 363-746

Gazin C. L. (1955) A review of the Upper Eocene Artiodactyla of North America, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 128 8, 1-96

Golz D. J. (1976) Eocene Artiodactyla of Southern California, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles Count, Science Bulletin 26, 1-85

Thurmond J. T., Jones D. E. (1981) , Fossil Vertebrates of Alabama, 1-244

Webb S. D. (1981) Kyptoceras amatorum, New Genus and Species from the Pliocene of Florida, the Last Protoceratid Artiodactyl, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 1 3-4, 357-365

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Webb S. D., Beatty B. L., et al (2003) New evidence of Miocene Protoceratidae including a new species from Chiapas, Mexico, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279, 348-367

Hulbert R. C., Whitmore F. C. (2006) Late Miocene mammals from the Mauvilla Local Fauna, Alabama, Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 46 1, 1-28

Prothero D. R., Ludtke J. A. (2007) Family Protoceratidae, in D. R. Prothero and S. Foss (eds.), The Evolution of Artiodactyls, 169-176

Spaulding M., O'Leary M. A., et al (2009) Relationships of Cetacea (Artiodactyla) among mammals: Increased taxon sampling alters interpretations of key fossils and character evolution, PloS One 4 9, e7062

Benton, M.J. (ed). (1993). The Fossil Record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, 845 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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