Brachyodus

Brachyodus; Temporal range: Early Miocene
	jaw bone fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	†Anthracotheriidae
Genus:	†Brachyodus
Species
	†B. aequatorialis nacholaensis (Tsubamoto, 2025); †B. nancrayensis (Pickford, 2025); †B. onoideus (Gervais, 1859) (type); †B. pontigneensis (Pickford, 2025);

Brachyodus was a genus of anthracothere that lived in Europe during the Early Miocene.

Taxonomy

The type and only species of this genus is B. onoideus. The nominal species "Brachyodus" strategus has been reassigned to Paenanthracotherium based on similarities with P. bergeri. Likewise, the putative Asian species "B." japonicus was referred to Elomeryx by Tsubamoto and Kohno (2011).

Distribution

Fossils of Brachyodus are known from latest early Miocene deposits in Europe. It has also been reported from the late Burdigalian fossil site of Tagay, located on Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal.

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

The microanatomy of its long bones suggests B. onoideus was mostly terrestrial but that it did possess some semi-aquatic adaptations reflecting a slight degree of water dependence.

References

↑ Laureline Scherler; Fabrice Lihoreau; Damien Becker (2018). "To split or not to split Anthracotherium? A phylogeny of Anthracotheriinae (Cetartiodactyla: Hippopotamoidea) and its palaeobiogeographical implications". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Online edition. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly052.
↑ Tsubamoto, T. and N. Kohno (2011). Reappraisal of "Brachyodus" japonicus, an Oligocene anthracotheriid cetartiodactyl from Japan. Paleontological Research, Vol.15, Number 3.
↑ Antunes, M.T. and L. Ginsburg (2003). The last Anthracothere Brachyodus onoideus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from westernmost Europe and its extinction. Ciencias da Terra (UNL), Number 15.
↑ Erbajeva, Margarita; Alexeeva, Nadezhda (2013-05-14), "Late Cenozoic Mammal Faunas of the Baikalian Region: Composition, Biochronology, Dispersal, and Correlation with Central Asia", in Fortelius, Mikael; Wang, Xiaoming; Flynn, Lawrence (eds.), Fossil Mammals of Asia: Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, Columbia University Press, p. 0, ISBN 978-0-231-15012-5, retrieved 2025-02-02
↑ Houssaye, Alexandra; Martin, Florian; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Lihoreau, Fabrice (13 March 2021). "Paleoecological Inferences from Long Bone Microanatomical Specializations in Hippopotamoidea (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (3): 847–870. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09536-x. ISSN 1064-7554. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.

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[:1-1] Laureline Scherler; Fabrice Lihoreau; Damien Becker (2018). "To split or not to split Anthracotherium? A phylogeny of Anthracotheriinae (Cetartiodactyla: Hippopotamoidea) and its palaeobiogeographical implications". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Online edition. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly052.

[2] Tsubamoto, T. and N. Kohno (2011). Reappraisal of "Brachyodus" japonicus, an Oligocene anthracotheriid cetartiodactyl from Japan. Paleontological Research, Vol.15, Number 3.

[3] Antunes, M.T. and L. Ginsburg (2003). The last Anthracothere Brachyodus onoideus (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from westernmost Europe and its extinction. Ciencias da Terra (UNL), Number 15.

[4] Erbajeva, Margarita; Alexeeva, Nadezhda (2013-05-14), "Late Cenozoic Mammal Faunas of the Baikalian Region: Composition, Biochronology, Dispersal, and Correlation with Central Asia", in Fortelius, Mikael; Wang, Xiaoming; Flynn, Lawrence (eds.), Fossil Mammals of Asia: Neogene Biostratigraphy and Chronology, Columbia University Press, p. 0, ISBN 978-0-231-15012-5, retrieved 2025-02-02

[5] Houssaye, Alexandra; Martin, Florian; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Lihoreau, Fabrice (13 March 2021). "Paleoecological Inferences from Long Bone Microanatomical Specializations in Hippopotamoidea (Mammalia, Artiodactyla)". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 28 (3): 847–870. doi:10.1007/s10914-021-09536-x. ISSN 1064-7554. Retrieved 18 September 2025 – via Springer Nature Link.