Pantodonta

Mounted skeleton of Coryphodon, by H. F. Osborn.

Belongs within: Ferae.

The Pantodonta were a group of graviportal, mostly herbivorous mammals that lived from the early Palaeocene to the mid-Eocene. They were most diverse in Eurasia and North America; a single species Alcidedorbignya inopinata is known from South America. Pantodonts varied in size from relatively small species of a few kilograms to over half a tonne in weight (Lucas 1998). The relationships of pantodonts to other mammals are largely mysterious; it is possible that they are distant relatives of the modern Carnivora.

Characters (from Lucas 1998): Head lacking cranial protuberances. P³ and P⁴ with V-shaped ectolophs; P₂-P₄ with broad metalophids; M¹-M³ parastyles not projecting anterior to protocone-paracone line; M₁-M₃ metalophids and metaconids much taller than paracristids and paraconids. Legs with 'amblypod' carpus and tarsus.

<==Pantodonta [Pantolambdoidea]
    |--+--Alcidedorbignya inopinata HUG17, MC00
    |  `--+--Esthonyx Cope 1874 HUG17, C77
    |     |    |--E. bisulcatus Cope 1874 [incl. E. acer Cope 1874] C77
    |     |    |--E. burmeisterii Cope 1874 C77
    |     |    `--E. spatularius HUG17
    |     `--Cyriacotherium [Cyriacotheriidae] HUG17
    |          |--C. argyreum HUG17
    |          `--C. psamminum HUG17
    `--+--Coryphodon Owen 1846 HUG17, C77 [incl. Bathmodon Cope 1872 C77; Coryphodontidae]
       |    |--*C. eocaenus Owen 1846 C77
       |    |--C. anthracoideus C77
       |    |--C. cuspidatus (Cope 1875) [=Bathmodon cuspidatus] C77
       |    |--C. elephantopus (Cope 1874) [=Bathmodon elephantopus] C77
       |    |--C. flerowi MHL03
       |    |--C. latidens (Cope 1875) [=Bathmodon latidens] C77
       |    |--‘Bathmodon’ latipes Cope 1872 C77
       |    |--C. lobatus Cope 1877 C77
       |    |--C. marginatus HUG17
       |    |--C. molestus (Cope 1874) [=Bathmodon molestus; incl. B. lomas Cope 1874] C77
       |    |--C. obliquus Cope 1877 C77
       |    |--C. owenii C77
       |    |--C. radians (Cope 1872) [=Bathmodon radians] C77
       |    `--C. simus (Cope 1874) [=Bathmodon simus] C77
       `--+--Pantolambda Cope 1883 HUG17, D07 [Pantolambdidae]
          |    |--P. bathmodon M94
          |    |--P. cavirictus Cope 1883 S35
          |    `--P. intermedius Simpson 1935 S35
          `--Titanoides Patterson 1932 HUG17, D07 [Titanoideidae]
               |--T. gidleyi D07
               |--T. looki D07
               |--T. major D07
               |--T. nanus D07
               |--T. primaevus D07
               `--T. zeuxis HUG17

Pantodonta incertae sedis:
  Metalophodon Cope 1872 C77
    `--M. armatus Cope 1872 C77
  Asiocoryphodon NG13
    |--A. conicus Xu 1976 MHL03
    `--A. lophodontus Xu 1976 MHL03
  Eudinoceras NG13
    |--E. mongoliensis NG13
    `--E. zhichengensis [=Coryphodon zhichengensis] NG13
  Bemalambdidae WZ97
    |--Bemalambda WZ97
    `--Hypsilolambda Wang 1975 WZ97
         |--H. chalingensis WZ97
         `--H. impensa WZ97
  Barylambdidae PS58
    |--Haplolambda quinni PS58
    |--Leptolambda Patterson & Simons 1958 PS58
    |    `--*L. schmidti Patterson & Simons 1958 PS58
    `--Barylambda Patterson 1937 D07
         |--B. churchilli D07
         `--B. faberi PS58
  Pantolambdodontidae [Pantolambdodontinae] HUG17
    |--Pantolambdodon HC97
    |--Nanlingilambda HC97
    |--Guichilambda Huang & Chen 1997 HC97
    |    `--*G. zhaii Huang & Chen 1997 HC97
    `--Archaeolambda Flerov 1952 HC97
         |--A. tabiensis HC97
         `--A. yangtzeensis Huang 1978 HC97
  Pastoralodon HC97 [Pastoralodontidae HUG17, Pastoralodontinae]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C77] Cope, E. D. 1877. Report upon the extinct Vertebrata obtained in New Mexico by parties of the expedition of 1874. Geographical Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian 4 (2): i–iv, 1–370.

[D07] Dixon, D. 2007. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. Hermes House: London.

[HUG17] Halliday, T. J. D., P. Upchurch & A. Goswami. 2017. Resolving the relationships of Paleocene placental mammals. Biological Reviews 92 (1): 521–550.

[HC97] Huang X. & Chen L. 1997. Mammalian remains from the Late Paleocene of Guichi, Anhui. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 35 (1): 49–67.

Lucas, S. G. 1998. Pantodonta. In: Janis, C. M., K. M. Scott & L. L. Jacobs (eds) Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America vol. 1. Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates, and ungulatelike mammals pp. 274–283. Cambridge University Press.

[M94] MacPhee, R. D. E. 1994. Morphology, adaptations, and relationships of Plesiorycteropus, and a diagnosis of a new order of eutherian mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 220: 1–214.

[MHL03] Meng, J., Y. Hu & C. Li. 2003. The osteology of Rhombomylus (Mammalia, Glires): implications for phylogeny and evolution of Glires. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 275: 1–247.

[MC00] Muizon, C. de, & R. L. Cifelli. 2000. The “condylarths” (archaic Ungulata, Mammalia) from the early Palaeocene of Tiupampa (Bolivia): implications on the origin of the South American ungulates. Geodiversitas 22 (1): 47–150.

[NG13] Ni, X., D. L. Gebo, M. Dagosto, J. Meng, P. Tafforeau, J. J. Flynn & K. C. Beard. 2013. The oldest known primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution. Nature 498: 60–64.

[PS58] Patterson, B., & E. L. Simons. 1958. A new barylambdid pantodont from the late Paleocene. Breviora 93: 1–8.

[S35] Simpson, G. G. 1935. New Paleocene mammals from the Fort Union of Montana. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 83 (2981): 221–244.

[WZ97] Wang B. & Zhang W. 1997. Mammalian fossils from Sanshui Basin, Guangdong, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 35 (1): 44–48.

Last updated: 13 August 2018.