PETM perissodactyl records imply rapid dispersal among northern landmasses, while sparse sampling and analysis-dependent stem placements leave the order’s place of origin unresolved.
claim:taxon:perissodactylaPerissodactyla
An early Eocene radiation whose initially similar branches diverged into horses, tapirs, rhinoceroses and many extinct groups; the profile treats that history as a branching record, not a ladder.
Represented range56–Present Ma
Content packageperissodactyla
PBDBtxn:106418
Evidence boundary
A review packet exists and the maintainer decision is still in progress; automated checks are not a completed review.
Claim ledger
Perissodactyla is treated as the order containing living horses, tapirs and rhinoceroses plus diverse extinct branches; basal fossil placements remain analysis-dependent.
claim:taxon:perissodactyla:taxonomyThe Perissodactyla navigation envelope uses the earliest-known basal and stem-perissodactyl records during the PETM at approximately 56 Ma as its older evidence anchor and living horses, tapirs and rhinoceroses at 0 Ma as its younger edge; it is a total-group navigation span, not a crown-node date, precisely observed origin or divergence, complete global first appearance or ancestral lineage.
claim:taxon:perissodactyla:fossil-rangeThe order-level profile records early dental and cranial similarity followed by strong lineage-specific divergence; it does not assert one foot, tooth or digestive condition for every fossil branch.
claim:taxon:perissodactyla:morphologyPerissodactyls were terrestrial herbivores spanning small early forms to giant rhinocerotoids and later browsing, mixed-feeding and grazing lineages; these states evolved in separate branches rather than as one progression.
claim:taxon:perissodactyla:ecologyKnown limits
- The displayed branching order is intentionally non-exhaustive and must not be read as a fully resolved binary consensus tree.
References
- Earliest perissodactyls reveal large-scale dispersals during the PETMTissier, J.; Smith, T. · 2026 · DOI 10.1073/pnas.2519690122
- Perissodactyl evolutionAmerican Museum of Natural History
- Open Tree of Life web servicesOpenTreeOfLife Project
- Evolutionary Transitions in the Fossil Record of Terrestrial Hoofed MammalsProthero, D.R. · 2009 · DOI 10.1007/s12052-009-0136-1
- Denormalized occurrence and taxon tables of the Paleobiology DatabaseThe Paleobiology Database Community; Kocsis, Á.T. · 2026 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21620933