Astrapotheriidae
| Astrapotheriidae Temporal range: Late Eocene–Middle Miocene |
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| An Astrapotherium magnum being attacked by a Phorusrhacos longissimus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Subclass: | Theria |
| Infraclass: | Eutheria |
| Superorder: | †Meridiungulata |
| Order: | †Astrapotheria |
| Family: |
†Astrapotheriidae Ameghino 1887 |
| Genera | |
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Astrapotheriidae is an extinct family of herbivorous South American land mammals that lived from the Late Eocene (Mustersan SALMA) to the Middle Miocene (Laventan SALMA) 37.8 to 15.97 million years ago. The most derived of the astrapotherians, they were also the largest and most specialized mammals in the Tertiary of South America. There are two sister taxa: Eoastrapostylopidae and Trigonostylopidae.
Around 1900, Argentine paleontologist Florentino Ameghino described eight Colhuehuapian (Early Miocene) species from specimens he found south of Lake Colhué Huapi in Patagonia and grouped them into three genera: Parastrapotherium, Astrapotherium, and Astrapothericulus. It was obvious to Ameghino that these species represented a great diversity, ranging in size from a peccary to a rhinoceros, but his description was based entirely on fragmentary and not always comparable dental remains. Other expeditions to Patagonia have subsequently recovered considerably more complete materials.
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