| Proadinotherium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Notoungulata |
| Family: | †Toxodontidae |
| Subfamily: | †Nesodontinae |
| Genus: | †Proadinotherium Ameghino, 1894 |
| Type species | |
| †Proadinotherium leptognathum Ameghino, 1894 | |
| Species | |
| |
Proadinotherium is anextinctgenus oftoxodontid. It lived between the LateOligocene and the EarlyMiocene in what is nowSouth America.
This genus is only known from very partial remains. From the comparison with its relativesAdinotherium andNesodon, it is supposed thatAdinotherium was anherbivorous animal the size of asheep, with an elongated body and rather short legs ; it was probably more slender-built than the two latter forms. The legs, in particular, had more delicate and slender bones than those ofAdinotherium andNesodon.Proadinotherium was characterized by its teeth with a lower crown, less hypsodont than those ofAdinotherium, but evocating more derived toxodontids. Its dentition was complete with a complex structure, and the development of a crest on the molars.
Proadinotherium is considered to be the most basal and oldest member of the Toxodontidae, the most specialized group of the notoungulates, which included the well knownPleistocene genusToxodon, as well as a number of Miocene andPliocene forms.
The genusProadinotherium was first described in 1894 byFlorentino Ameghino, based on fossil remains found inArgentinePatagonia, with the type species beingProadinotherium leptognathum, known from various remains from theSanta Cruz Province andChubut Province. Ameghino described several other species, from more recent Early Miocene deposits of Patagonia, such asP. angustidens andP. muensteri. Another species,P. saltoni, was discovered in theSalla Formation inBolivia.[1] Other remains attributed to the genus have been found in theTremembé Formation ofBrazil, theChaparral Formation ofColombia, and theAgua de la Piedra andCerro Bandera Formations ofMendoza andNeuquén Provinces of Argentina.[2][3]
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