Palaeotherium medium is sampled in the late Eocene at La Débruge, and separate British range data place regional Palaeotherium loss near the Grande Coupure without dating a global extinction instant.
claim:taxon:palaeotheriumPalaeotherium
A western European palaeothere represented here by dental-wear evidence from Palaeotherium medium and regional terminal records near the Grande Coupure.
Represented rangeRange unavailable
Content packageperissodactyla
PBDBtxn:49711
Evidence boundary
A review packet exists and the maintainer decision is still in progress; automated checks are not a completed review.
Claim ledger
The profile uses Palaeotherium at genus rank within Palaeotheriidae, while ecological detail is explicitly restricted to the sampled species P. medium.
claim:taxon:palaeotherium:taxonomyIn the sampled Palaeotherium medium, molar wear facets, high occlusal relief and mixed sharp and rounded cusps provide the morphological basis for dietary inference; limb proportions are not claimed here.
claim:taxon:palaeotherium:morphologyThe La Débruge Palaeotherium medium sample is consistent with leaf browsing plus a smaller fruit or abrasive-seed component; habitat and locomotor behavior are not inferred from tooth wear alone.
claim:taxon:palaeotherium:ecologyThis profile represents western European study records from La Débruge and the Hampshire Basin rather than a complete genus-wide occurrence distribution.
claim:taxon:palaeotherium:biogeographyKnown limits
- A missing branch or fossil occurrence does not imply biological absence. Internal nodes are not calibrated divergence estimates.
- PBDB mapping requires concept review because the pinned lineage is incompatible with the local expected parent Hippomorpha.
References
- Dental wear variation and implications for diet: An example from Eocene perissodactyls (Mammalia)Joomun, S.C.; Hooker, J.J.; Collinson, M.E. · 2008 · DOI 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.03.001
- Eocene–Oligocene mammalian faunal turnover in the Hampshire Basin, UK: calibration to the global time scale and the major cooling eventHooker, J.J.; Collinson, M.E.; Sille, N.P. · 2004 · DOI 10.1144/0016-764903-091
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- The Paleobiology Database application programming interfacePeters, S.E.; McClennen, M. · 2016 · DOI 10.1017/pab.2015.39
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933