The bothriodontines are a paraphyletic assemblage of anthracotheres that originated from

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

in the late

middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "da ...

(

Bartonian The Bartonian is, in the ICS's geologic time scale, a stage or age in the middle Eocene Epoch or Series. The Bartonian Age spans the time between . It is preceded by the Lutetian and is followed by the Priabonian Age. Stratigraphic defini ...

). The group can be distinguished from other anthracothere lineages by their upper molars with the mesostyle that is occupied by the transverse valley, selenodont cusps, ventrally concave symphysis, elongated muzzles, with presence of a diastema between the canine and first premolar. The size range of the group ranged from small, basal forms to larger and more derived forms. During their evolution, the bothriodontines undergone a trend from evolving from small basal forms such as '' Qatraniodon'' into larger taxa such as ''

Libycosaurus ''Libycosaurus'' (" Lizard of Libya") was one of the last anthracothere genera. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, and ranged throughout Central and Northern Africa, and in Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Afri ...

'' and ''

Merycopotamus ''Merycopotamus'' is an extinct genus of Asian anthracothere that appeared during the Middle Miocene, and died out in the Late Pliocene. At the height of the genus' influence, species ranged throughout southern Asia. With the extinction of th ...

''. Some genera the snouts became even more elongated and teeth specialized in a folivorous diet (e.g., '' Bothriodon'', '' Aepinacodon''), while others like ''Merycopotamus'' became wide, heavy and shallow muzzles with teeth more adapted for grazing.

References

Anthracotheres Mammal subfamilies Eocene first appearances Paraphyletic groups {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub