New data on the Cainotheriidae (Mammalia, Artiodactyla) from the early Oligocene of south-western France

Abstract

The Cainotheriidae are small artiodactyls that suddenly appeared in the late Eocene of western Europe. A revision of early Oligocene cainotheriid lineages is proposed on the basis of newly dated material from the Quercy Phosphorites (south-western France). A significant diversification of the group occurred at the end of the Eocene. Few species seem to have persisted through the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, but the Cainotheriidae subsequently diversified rapidly during the early Oligocene. © 2005 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 144, 145−166.