''Carodnia'' is an extinct genus of South American ungulate known from the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age or lowest stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by the Eocene Lutetian Age. The Ypresia ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and

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. ''Carodnia'' is placed in the order ''

Xenungulata Xenungulata ("strange ungulates") is an order of extinct and primitive South American hoofed mammals that lived from the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene ( Itaboraian to Casamayoran in the SALMA classification). Fossils of the order are known ...

'' together with '' Etayoa'' and '' Notoetayoa''. ''Carodnia'' is the largest mammal known from the

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 ...

of South America. It was heavily built and had large canines and cheek teeth with a crested pattern like the uintatheres to which it can be related. In life, it would have been a tapir-sized animal. It bore strong resemblances to dinoceratans, although without tusks or

ossicone Ossicones are columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes, male okapi, and some of their extinct relatives. Ossicones are distinguished from the superficially similar structures of horns and antlers by their unique ...

Description

Simpson noted that ''Carodnia'' resembles the primitive uintathere '' Probathyopsis''. Although Paula Couto also made the same favorable comparison, he placed ''Carodnia'' in the new order Xenungulata. concluded that ''Probathyopsis'' shares several dental characteristics with ''Carodnia'', but that in the latter the anterior dentition of is more reduced, the second lower and upper premolars are enlarged and pointed, and that the first and second molars are more lophodont. Gingerich thought the differences could justify a separate family for ''Carodnia'' but proposed that it should be included in ''Probathyopsis'', grouped ''Carodnia'' with Pyrotheria but later concluded that this was a mistake. ''Carodnia'' is characterized by bilophodontA loph is a crest on the crown of a tooth. A bilophodont tooth has two parallel lophs running transversally across the tooth. first and second molars and more complex lophate third molars, which suggests possible links to pyrotheres, uintatheres, and even arctocyonids. The bones of the foot are short and robust and the digits terminate in broad, flat, and unfissured hoof-like unguals, unlike any other known meridiungulate. ''C. feruglioi'' and ''C. cabrerai'', from the Riochican in the SALMA classification of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

, are known from only a few dental remains. ''C. vieirai'' (from the Itaboraian SALMA of Itaborai) is known from much more complete dental, cranial, and postcranial remains including an almost complete mandible, many vertebrae, and several partial leg bones. When first described ''Carodnia'' and ''Ctalecarodnia'', the former was known only from a left lower molar which was lacking in the latter, making a comparison very difficult. , based on considerably more complete remains, concluded that the molars and premolars of both are indistinguishable and therefore reduced ''Ctalecarodnia'' to a synonym. Paula Couto also noted that the dentition of ''C. cabrerai'' and ''C. feruglioi'' are similar except in size, and that ''C. feruglioi'' can be a juvenile ''C. cabrerai'', but nevertheless left them as two distinct species.

Distribution

Fossils of ''Carodnia'' have been found in:''Carodnia''
at

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.org * Peñas Coloradas Formation,

* Itaboraí Formation,

* Mogollón Formation,

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Itaboraian correlations

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q3311285 Meridiungulata Eocene mammals of South America Casamayoran Riochican Itaboraian Paleogene Argentina Paleogene Brazil Paleogene Peru Fossils of Argentina Fossils of Brazil Fossils of Peru Fossil taxa described in 1935 Taxa named by George Gaylord Simpson Prehistoric placental genera Itaboraí Formation