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Megalohyrax

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Description

Megalohyrax is an extinct hyrax-grouped genus of herbivorous mammal from the Lower Oligocene, about 33–30 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Africa and in Asia Minor.

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

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	4825885	https://www.gbif.org/species/4825885
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	43302	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=43302

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Hyracoidea : Pliohyracidae : Megalohyrax

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
-	Placentalia	Owen 1837
-	Afrotheria	Stanhope et al. 1998
-	Paenungulatomorpha	Gheerbrant et al. 2016
-	Paenungulata	Simpson 1945
order	Hyracoidea	Huxley 1869
family	Pliohyracidae	Osborn 1899
genus	Megalohyrax	Andrews 1903

Scientific Name

Megalohyrax Andrews, 1903

Name Published In

Geol. Mag., (N. S.) Dec. 4, 10

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Megalohyrax	genus	belongs to Saghatheriidae	stated without evidence	Andrews, 1906
Megalohyrax	genus	belongs to Pliohyracidae	implied	Carroll, 1988
Megalohyrax	genus	belongs to Pliohyracidae	stated with evidence	Rasmussen and Simons, 1988
Megalohyrax	genus	belongs to Saghatheriinae	stated without evidence	Prothero and Schoch, 1989

Status (PBDB)

extant

Taxon Size (PBDB)

Extant Size (PBDB)

2 (40%)

First Recorded Appearance

56.0 - 41.3 Ma
Eocene

Environment

terrestrial (based on Eutheria)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

herbivore (based on Hyracoidea)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalohyrax

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Megalohyrax eocaenus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		5	33.9 Ma Oligocene	33.9 Ma Oligocene
Megalohyrax eoceanus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Megalohyrax gevini ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	56.0 Ma Paleocene	55.8 Ma Eocene
Megalohyrax major species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)
Megalohyrax minor species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		1	33.9 Ma Oligocene	0 Ma Extant
Megalohyrax niloticus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Megalohyrax suillus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1903	Megalohyrax Andrews p. 341
1906	Megalohyrax Andrews p. 92
1910	Mixohyrax Schlosser
1979	Megalohyrax Sudre p. 90
1988	Megalohyrax Carroll
1988	Megalohyrax Rasmussen and Simons p. 72
1989	Megalohyrax Prothero and Schoch p. 530
2010	Megalohyrax Rasmussen and Gutiérrez p. 135

References

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

Andrews C. W. (1906) , A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of Fayum, Egypt, 1-324

Sudre J. (1979) Nouveaux Mammifères Eocènes du Sahara Occidental, Palaeovertebrata 9 3, 83-115

Rasmussen D. T., Simons E. L. (1988) New Oligocene hyracoids from Egypt, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 8 1, 67-83

Prothero D. R., Schoch R. M. (1989) Classification of the Perissodactyla, The Evolution of Perissodactyla, 530-537

Rasmussen D. T., Gutiérrez M. (2010) Hyracoidea, Cenozoic Mammals of Africa, 123-145

Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

SN2000/McKenna & Bell, 1997 - 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

as per family - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Geol. Mag., (N. S.) Dec. 4, 10 - 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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