Uintatheriidae is a family of extinct

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s that includes ''

Uintatherium ''Uintatherium'' ("Beast of the Uinta Mountains") is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch. Two species are currently recognized: ''U. anceps'' from the United States during the Early to Middle Eocene (56–38 ...

''. Uintatheres belong to the order

Dinocerata Dinocerata (from the Greek (), "terrible", and (), "horn") is an extinct order of plant-eating hoofed mammals with horns and protuberant canine teeth. Classification A 2015 phylogenetic study recovered Dinocerata as closely related to '' ...

, one of several extinct orders of primitive hoofed mammals that are sometimes united in the

Condylarthra Condylarthra is an informal group – previously considered an order – of extinct placental mammals, known primarily from the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. They are considered early, primitive ungulates. It is now largely considered to be a wast ...

. Uintatheres were the largest land animals of their time, surviving from the late

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

into the

Uintan The Uintan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 46,200,000 to 42,000,000 years BP lasting . It falls within the ...

Epoch of the Middle

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

. They were heavy animals, with thick legs, massive bones, broad feet, and tiny brains. The most distinctive feature of the great majority of species, however, was the presence of multiple blunt "horns", perhaps similar to the

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 ...

s of modern

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, ''Giraffa camelopardalis ...

s, and the presence of large, sabre-like canine teeth. They were eventually replaced as large browsing animals by the even larger

brontothere Brontotheriidae is a family of extinct mammals belonging to the order Perissodactyla, the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. Superficially, they looked rather like rhinos, although they were actually more closely related to ...

Genera

Family Uintatheriidae * Subfamily Uintatheriinae ** Genus ''

Bathyopsis ''Bathyopsis'' is an extinct genus of uintathere. It lived in North America during the Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the ...

'' ** Genus ''

Eobasileus ''Eobasileus cornutus'' ("horned dawn-king") was a prehistoric species of dinocerate mammal. Description About long, and standing some tall at the shoulder, with a weight estimated to be around , ''Eobasilius'' was the largest uintathere ...

'' ** Genus ''

Prodinoceras ''Prodinoceras'' ("Before Terrible Horns") is the earliest known uintathere genus, which lived in the late Paleocene of Mongolia. It was a relatively small uintathere, reaching in length. It is also regarded as the most basal uintathere, as, al ...

'' ** Genus ''

Tetheopsis ''Tetheopsis'' is an extinct genus of Uintatheriidae Uintatheriidae is a family of extinct ungulate mammals that includes ''Uintatherium''. Uintatheres belong to the order Dinocerata, one of several extinct orders of primitive hoofed mammals t ...

'' ** Genus ''

'' * Subfamily Gobiatheriinae ** Genus ''

Gobiatherium ''Gobiatherium'' (meaning "Beast of the Gobi Desert") was one of the last Uintatheres, from the Mid Eocene of Mongolia. Unlike its North American cousins, ''Uintatherium'' or ''Eobasileus'', ''Gobiatherium'' lacked knob-like horns, or even fang- ...

'' Because the skulls of the species of ''Gobiatherium'' lack the diagnostic ossicones and fang-tusks of other uintatheres, the genus is sometimes placed within its own family, "Gobiatheriidae."

References

Dinoceratans Paleocene mammals Eocene mammals Eocene extinctions Paleocene first appearances Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-mammal-stub