Pantodonta

Pantolambda

• China
• North America
• South America
• Antarctic

The Pantodonta are an extinct group of mammals. They are the first large herbivorous mammals that appear in the fossil record. Pantodonten can be first detected in the Shanhuang - formation from the early Paleocene of China. Bemalambda had a skull of 20 centimeters in length, reaching the size of a large dog. In North America, the group appeared in the mid- Paleocene and lived up to the middle Eocene. Representatives as Coryphodon and Titanoides reached the size of a rhinoceros. However, there were also small species weighing less than 10 kg. By tooth finds the Pantodonta also in the Paleocene of South America and the Eocene of Antarctica are detected.

Features

The Pantodonten were a very rich form group resembling of lightly built species, such as the tree-dwelling Archaeolambda may, over the long-tailed, a small giant sloth Barylambda, handed up to the already mentioned rhino or hippo similar forms in North America. A kind probably had a short proboscis. The limbs were usually short and stocky, all five toes were still present. They usually ended in small hooves, at Titanoides in short claws. The dentition of Pantodonta is still completely without diastema ( spaces between the teeth ). Characteristic are the molars that had W-shaped sharp edges. The teeth of the fossils found have low wear, suggesting soft plant food.

Families

Ten families have been described, the most primitive are the Bemalambdidae. All others will be summarized as Eupantodontia.

• Bemalambdidae
• Eupantodontia Archaeolambdidae
• Barylambdidae
• Coryphodontidae
• Cyriacotheriidae
• Harpyodidae
• Pantolambdidae
• Pantolambdodontidae
• Pastoralodontidae
• Titanoideidae