Cainotheriidae

Cainotheriidae is an extinct family of small, rabbit-like even-toed ungulates known from Europe from the Eocene to the Oligocene.

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Artiodactyla: Artiodactyla is the traditional order of mammals with an even number of functional toes on each foot. Cainotheriids belong to this traditional grouping of even-toed mammals.
Cainotherium: Cainotherium is an extinct genus of small European cainotheriid mammals. It is the family’s best-known genus and gives Cainotheriidae its name.
Molar (tooth): A molar is a broad cheek tooth used mainly for crushing and grinding food. Cainotheriid molars preserve features used to compare species and infer diet.
Paleogene: The Paleogene is the geological period from about 66 to 23 million years ago. The family’s entire known history falls within this period.
Mammalia: Mammalia is the class of vertebrates whose living members produce milk for their young. Cainotheriidae is nested within this broader vertebrate lineage.
Plesiomeryx: Plesiomeryx is an extinct genus of cainotheriid ungulates from Europe. Its fossils document one of the family’s distinct generic lineages.
Dental formula: A dental formula records the number and kinds of teeth in each half of a mammal’s jaws. Tooth counts help distinguish cainotheriids from related fossil mammals.
Great Perissodactyl Turnover: The Great Perissodactyl Turnover was a major late Eocene reorganization of European mammal faunas. It provides a faunal context for the changing ecosystems in which cainotheriids lived.
Ungulate: An ungulate is a hoofed mammal or a member of a lineage historically associated with hooves. Cainotheriids are commonly described as small hoofed mammals.
Saint-Gérand-le-Puy: Saint-Gérand-le-Puy is a French fossil locality known for rich Oligocene mammal deposits. Its deposits preserve cainotheriids alongside other European mammals.