Dorcatherium

Dorcatherium
Temporal range: Miocene, Possibly Pliocene 23–5.3 Ma
Dorcatherium naui skeleton, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tragulidae
Genus: †Dorcatherium
Johann Jakob Kaup, 1833
Type species
†Dorcatherium naui
Kaup & Scholl, 1834
Other species
  • †Dorcatherium guntianum von Meyer, 1846
  • †Dorcatherium majus Lydekker, 1876
  • †Dorcatherium jourdani Déperet, 1887
  • †Dorcatherium puyhauberti Arambourg & Piveteau, 1929
  • †Dorcatherium pigotti Whitworth, 1958
  • †Dorcatherium bulgaricum? Bakalov & Nikolov, 1962
  • †Dorcatherium nagrii Prasad, 1970
  • †Dorcatherium libiensis Hamilton, 1973
  • †Dorcatherium minimus West, 1980
  • †Dorcatherium orientale Qiu Zhanxiang & Gu Yumin, 1991
  • †Dorcatherium maliki Kostopoulos & Sen, 2016
  • †Dorcatherium dehmi Guzmán, Sandoval & Rössner, 2021

Dorcatherium is an extinct genus of tragulid ruminant which existed in Europe, East Africa, and the Siwaliks during the Miocene and possibly Pliocene.

Description

Dorcatherium is similar to the water chevrotain, but has longer, more gracile limbs than the latter. D. naui was sexually dimorphic, with one sex (probably males) having a frontoparietal bulge above the eyes.

Palaeoecology

D. naui was partially frugivorous, the evidence for this being its dental enamel's 87Sr/86Sr, δ18OCO3, and δ13C values. The dental microwear and mesowear of D. naui provides further evidence that it was a frugivorous browser. At the Middle Miocene site of Maboko in Kenya, D. pigotti displays relatively high δ13C values, probably indicative of feeding in less wooded environments than modern tragulids, while the δ13C values of D. chappuisi at the same site were even higher, suggesting a preference for even more open and arid habitats than D. pigotti.

References

  1. ↑ McKenna, M. C.; Bell, S. K. (1997). Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. p. 631. ISBN 978-0-231-11013-6.
  2. ↑ Curran, Sabrina. "A very complete Dorcatherium pigotti (Mammalia, Tragulidae) skeleton from the Miocene of Rusinga Island, Kenya: Description and skeletal anatomy (Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 2011)". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ Hartung, Josephina; Böhme, Madelaine (2022-05-18). "Unexpected cranial sexual dimorphism in the tragulid Dorcatherium naui based on material from the middle to late Miocene localities of Eppelsheim and Hammerschmiede (Germany)". PLOS ONE. 17 (5) e0267951. Public Library of Science. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1767951H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0267951. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 9116667. PMID 35584185.
  4. ↑ Aiglstorfer, Manuela; Bocherens, Hervé; Böhme, Madelaine (18 February 2014). "Large mammal ecology in the late Middle Miocene Gratkorn locality (Austria)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 94 (1): 189–213. Bibcode:2014PdPe...94..189A. doi:10.1007/s12549-013-0145-5. ISSN 1867-1594. Retrieved 27 November 2024 – via Springer Nature Link.
  5. ↑ Merceron, Gildas (July 2009). "The early Vallesian vertebrates of Atzelsdorf (Late Miocene, Austria) 13. Dental wear patterns of herbivorous ungulates as ecological indicators". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. 111A: 647–660. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Arney, Irisa; Benefit, Brenda R.; McCrossin, Monte L.; MacLatchy, Laura; Kingston, John D. (1 September 2022). "Herbivore isotopic dietary ecology of the middle Miocene Maboko Formation, Kenya". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 601 111061. Bibcode:2022PPP...60111061A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111061. Retrieved 16 February 2025 – via Elsevier Science Direct.