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List of brontothere genera

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Mounted skeleton of Megacerops (labelled as the synonymous Brontotherium)

This list of brontotheres is a comprehensive listing of all genera that have ever been included in the family Brontotheriidae, excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomen dubium), or were not formally published (nomen nudum), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered to be brontotheres.

The list includes 87 names, out of which 44 are considered valid genera whose classification in Brontotheriidae is not disputed.

Scope and terminology

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There is no official, canonical list of brontothere genera. This list follows the genera recognized in a 2008 monograph on brontotheres by Matthew C. Mihlbachler,[1] unless otherwise cited to more recent literature.

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:

  • Junior synonym: A name which describes the same taxon as a previously published name. If two or more genera are formally designated and the type specimens are later assigned to the same genus, the first to be published (in chronological order) is the senior synonym, and all other instances are junior synonyms. Senior synonyms are generally used, except by special decision of the ICZN, but junior synonyms cannot be used again, even if deprecated. Junior synonymy is often subjective, unless the genera described were both based on the same type specimen.
  • Nomen nudum (Latin for "naked name"): A name that has appeared in print but has not yet been formally published by the standards of the ICZN. Nomina nuda (the plural form) are invalid, and are therefore not italicized as a proper generic name would be. If the name is later formally published, that name is no longer a nomen nudum and will be italicized on this list. Often, the formally published name will differ from any nomina nuda that describe the same specimen. In this case, these nomina nuda will be deleted from this list in favor of the published name.
  • Preoccupied name: A name that is formally published, but which has already been used for another taxon. This second use is invalid (as are all subsequent uses) and the name must be replaced. As preoccupied names are not valid generic names, they will also go unitalicized on this list.
  • Nomen dubium (Latin for "dubious name"): A name describing a fossil with no unique diagnostic features.

List of genera

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Problematic species-level taxa

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The 23 species listed below are considered dubious or otherwise problematic. Some are likely to be junior synonyms of established species whereas others may be distinct, but none are currently securely referred to a genus. The list uses the original generic assignments of the species but notes more recent classifications.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 Mihlbachler, Matthew C. (2008). "Species Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Biogeography of the Brontotheriidae (Mammalia: Perissodactyla)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 2008 (311). doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2008)501[1:STPABO]2.0.CO;2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Osborn, Henry Fairfield (1929). The Titanotheres of Ancient Wyoming, Dakota, and Nebraska, Volume 1. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. pp. 211, 217–219, 241.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mihlbachler, Matthew C.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Emry, Robert J. (2004). "The holotype specimen of Menodus giganteus, and the "insoluble" problem of Chadronian brontothere taxonomy". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin. 26: 129–136.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Pieter Missiaen; Gregg F. Gunnell & Philip D. Gingerich (2011). "New Brontotheriidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Early and Middle Eocene of Pakistan with Implications for Mammalian Paleobiogeography". Journal of Paleontology. 85 (4): 665–677. doi:10.1666/10-087.1. S2CID 129473193.
  5. 1 2 Bai, Bin; Wang, Yuan-Qing; Meng, Jin (2018). "The divergence and dispersal of early perissodactyls as evidenced by early Eocene equids from Asia". Communications Biology. 1 (1): 115. doi:10.1038/s42003-018-0116-5. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 6123789.
  6. 1 2 3 Mader, Bryn J. (2010). "A species-level revision of the North American brontotheres Eotitanops and Palaeosyops (Mammalia, Perissodactyla)". Zootaxa. 2339 (1). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2339.1.1. ISSN 1175-5334.
  7. ↑ Eberle, Jaelyn J. (2006). "Early Eocene Brontotheriidae (Perissodactyla) from the Eureka Sound Group, Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic—implications for brontothere origins and high-latitude dispersal". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (2): 381–386. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2006)26[381:EEBPFT]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
  8. 1 2 3 Bai, Bin; Wang, Yuan-Qing; Meng, Jin (2018). "The divergence and dispersal of early perissodactyls as evidenced by early Eocene equids from Asia". Communications Biology. 1 (1). doi:10.1038/s42003-018-0116-5. ISSN 2399-3642. PMC 6123789.
  9. ↑ Lucas, Spencer G.; Holbrook, Luke T. (2004). "The skull of the Eocene perissodactyl Lambdotherium and its phylogenetic significance". New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin (26): 81–88.
  10. ↑ Averianov, Alexander; Danilov, Igor; Chen, Wen; Jin, Jianhua (2018). "A new brontothere from the Eocene of South China". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi:10.4202/app.00431.2017. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Mihlbachler, Matthew C.; Prothero, Donald R. (2021). "Eocene (Duchesnean and earliest Chadronian) brontotheres (Brontotheriidae), Protitanops curryi and cf. Parvicornus occidentalis, from West Texas and Mexico". Palaeontologia Electronica. 24 (3): a35. doi:10.26879/944.
  12. ↑ Janis, Christine M.; Hulbert, Richard C.; Mihlbachler, Matthew C. (2008). "Addendum". Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Volume 2: Small Mammals, Xenarthrans, and Marine Mammals. Cambridge University Press. pp. 670–672. ISBN 978-0-521-78117-6.
  13. ↑ Skinner, Morris F. (1968). "A Pliocene Chalicothere from Nebraska, and the Distribution of Chalicotheres in the Late Tertiary of North America". American Museum Novitates (2346): 1–24.
  14. ↑ Eberle, Jaelyn J.; Eberth, David A. (2015). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). "Additions to the Eocene Perissodactyla of the Margaret Formation, Eureka Sound Group, Ellesmere Island, Arctic Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 52 (2): 123–133. doi:10.1139/cjes-2014-0195. ISSN 0008-4077.
  15. ↑ Mihlbachler, Matthew C.; Deméré, Thomas A. (2009). "A new species of Brontotheriidae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the Santiago Formation (Duchesnian, Middle Eocene) of Southern California". Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History (41): 1–36.
  16. ↑ Lucas, Spencer G.; Schoch, Robert M. (1982). "Duchesneodus, a New Name for Some Titanotheres (Perissodactyla, Brontotheriidae) from the Late Eocene of Western North America". Journal of Paleontology. 56 (4): 1018–1023. ISSN 0022-3360.
  17. ↑ Lucas, Spencer G. (2004). "O. C. Marsh and the Eocene Brontothere Teleodus: A Paleontological Hoax". Paleogene Mammals: Bulletin 26. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. p. 119.
  18. ↑ Mader, Bryn J. (1989). "The Brontotheriidae: a systematic revision and preliminary phylogeny of North American genera". The Evolution of Perissodactyls. Oxford University Press. pp. 458–484. ISBN 0-19-506039-3.
  19. ↑ McKenna, Malcolm C.; Bell, Susan K. (1997). Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. p. 474. ISBN 978-0-231-52853-5.
  20. ↑ Froehlich, David J. (2002). "Quo vadis eohippus? The systematics and taxonomy of the early Eocene equids (Perissodactyla)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 134 (2): 141–256. doi:10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00005.x. ISSN 1096-3642.
  21. ↑ Bai, Bin (2017). "Eocene Pachynolophinae (Perissodactyla, Palaeotheriidae) from China, and their palaeobiogeographical implications". Palaeontology. 60 (6): 837–852. doi:10.1111/pala.12319. ISSN 0031-0239.
  22. ↑ Tissier, Jérémy; Smith, Thierry (2026). "Earliest perissodactyls reveal large-scale dispersals during the PETM". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 123 (4). doi:10.1073/pnas.2519690122. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 12846768. PMID 41525472.
  23. ↑ Mihlbachler, Matthew C.; Samuels, Joshua X. (November 2016). "A small-bodied species of Brontotheriidae from the middle Eocene Nut Beds of the Clarno Formation, John Day Basin, Oregon". Journal of Paleontology. 90 (6): 1233–1244. doi:10.1017/jpa.2016.61. ISSN 0022-3360. Retrieved 6 February 2025 – via Cambridge Core.
  24. 1 2 3 Lucas, Spencer G.; Schoch, Robert M. (1982). "Duchesneodus, a New Name for Some Titanotheres (Perissodactyla, Brontotheriidae) from the Late Eocene of Western North America". Journal of Paleontology. 56 (4): 1018–1023. ISSN 0022-3360.
  25. ↑ Sweedler, Rory E.; Eberle, Jaelyn J.; Mihlbachler, Matthew C. (2021). "A latest Eocene (Chadronian) brontothere (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Antero Formation, South Park, Colorado". Rocky Mountain Geology. 56 (1): 37–50. doi:10.24872/rmgjournal.56.1.37. ISSN 1555-7340.
  26. ↑ Granger, Walter W.; Gregory, William K. (1943). "A revision of the Mongolian titanotheres". American Museum Novitates. 80: 349–389.
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