Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
568 / Cenozoic
Palaeotherium
Palaeotherium magnum
A short face, low-crowned teeth and three-toed feet belonged to a European herbivore near horse relatives.
View original image · 1600 × 1067- Time range
- About 38–33 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Eocene
- Geographic range
- Subtropical forest and lakeshore · Europe
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Palaeotherium?
Palaeotherium (Palaeotherium magnum) was an extinct organism known from About 38–33 million years ago, with a range in Subtropical forest and lakeshore · Europe.
Life and ecology
It browsed leaves and shoots in forest understory and walked on soft ground with multiple toes.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Palaeotherium disappear?
Its disappearance falls within the Grande Coupure: cooling, forest loss and the arrival of Asian mammals across the Eocene–Oligocene transition are the likely setting, though their relative roles are debated.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Palaeotherium?
Paris gypsum skulls, teeth and skeletons shaped early reconstruction history; nasal soft tissues remain debated.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS