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Megalagus ✝

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Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	4825729	https://www.gbif.org/species/4825729
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	42178	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42178

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Lagomorpha : Leporidae : Megalagus

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
-	Euarchontoglires	Murphy et al. 2001
-	Glires
-	Duplicidentata
order	Lagomorpha	Brandt 1885
family	Leporidae	Fischer de Waldheim 1817
subfamily	Palaeolaginae	Dice 1929
genus	Megalagus	Walker 1931

Scientific Name

Megalagus Walker, 1931

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Megalagus	genus	belongs to Leporidae	stated without evidence	Walker, 1931
Megalagus	genus	belongs to Palaeolaginae	stated with evidence	Dawson, 1958
Megalagus	genus	belongs to Leporidae	stated without evidence	Johnson, 1966
Megalagus	genus	belongs to Leporidae	implied	McKenna and Bell, 1997

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

First Recorded Appearance

40.4 - 33.9 Ma
Paleogene

Last Recorded Appearance

20.4 - 16.0 Ma
Miocene

Environment

terrestrial (based on Eutheria)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)

Diet

grazer, browser (based on Leporidae)

Taphonomy

phosphatic (based on Vertebrata)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

J. Alroy. 2002. Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals.

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Hypolagus primitivus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	14	33.3 Ma Oligocene	30.8 Ma Oligocene
Megalagus abaconis ✝ species	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	30.8 Ma Oligocene	30.8 Ma Oligocene
Megalagus dawsoni ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	30.8 Ma Oligocene	20.4 Ma Miocene
Palaeolagus brachyodon ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	22	37.2 Ma Eocene	37.2 Ma Eocene
Palaeolagus turgidus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	39	37.2 Ma Eocene	33.3 Ma Oligocene

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1931	Megalagus Walker
1958	Megalagus Dawson p. 10
1966	Megalagus Johnson p. 80
1997	Megalagus McKenna and Bell

References

Alroy J. (2002) Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals

Dawson M. R. (1958) Later Tertiary Leoporidae of North America, University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions Vertebrata 6, 1-75

Johnson G. D. (1966) Small mammals of the Middle Oligocene of the Big Badlands of South Dakota, Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Sciences 45, 78-83

McKenna M. C., Bell S. K. (1997) , Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, 1-640

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

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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