PBDB

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Camelidae (camel)

Mammalia - Ungulata - Camelidae

Taxonomy

Camelidae was named by Gray (1821). It is extant. Its type is Camelus.

It was assigned to Hydrophorae by Gray (1821); to Pecora by Bonaparte (1850); to Artiodactyla by Cope (1889) and Lambe (1908); to Ruminantia by Leidy (1873), Gregory (1910) and Thurmond and Jones (1981); to Cameloidea by Hay (1902), Scott (1940), Carroll (1988) and Prothero (1996); to Tylopoda by Dingus (1990) and Webb and Meachen (2004); to Tylopoda by Flower (1883) and Whistler and Webb (2005); to Artiodactyla by Honey (2007); to Tylopoda by Flower and Lydekker (1891), Matthew (1908) and Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008); to Camelidamorpha by Spaulding et al. (2009); and to Artiodactyla by Kurten and Anderson (1980), Nowak (1991), Thewissen et al. (2001), Hulbert and Whitmore (2006) and Baskin and Thomas (2015).

View classification of included taxa

Synonyms

Poebrotheriidae was named by Cope (1874).

It was synonymized subjectively with Poebrotheriinae by Simpson (1945).

It was assigned to Ruminantia by Cope (1874); and to Tylopoda by Flower and Lydekker (1891).
Protolabididae was named by Cope (1887).

It was synonymized subjectively with Camelidae by McKenna and Bell (1997).

It was assigned to Artiodactyla by Cope (1889).
Eschatiidae was named by Cope (1887).

It was synonymized subjectively with Camelidae by McKenna and Bell (1997).

It was assigned to Artiodactyla by Cope (1889).
Aepycamelinae was named by Webb (1965). It was considered paraphyletic by Frailey (1978) and Honey et al. (1998).

It was considered an invalid subgroup of Camelidae by Frailey (1978) and Honey et al. (1998).

It was assigned to Camelidae by Webb (1965) and McKenna and Bell (1997).
Poebrotheriinae was named by Zittel (1893). Its type is Poebrotherium. It was considered paraphyletic by Honey et al. (1998).

It was considered an invalid subgroup of Camelidae by Honey et al. (1998).

It was assigned to Camelidae by Hay (1902), Simpson (1945) and Gazin (1955).
Gomphotherium was named by Cope (1886).

It was synonymized subjectively with Protomeryx by Matthew (1901) and Hay (1902); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Camelidae by Matthew (1904), McKenna (1966) and Prothero (1996).

It was assigned to Poebrotheriidae by Cope (1886).
Altomeryx was named by Frick (1929).

It was considered a nomen nudum by Simpson (1945) and Savage (1951).
Alticamelinae was named by Simpson (1945).

It was replaced with Aepycamelinae by Webb (1965).

It was assigned to Camelidae by Simpson (1945) and Maglio (1966).
Gomphotherium serus was named by Douglass (1899) [also said to be 1900]. It is a 3D body fossil.

It was recombined as Protomeryx serus by Hay (1902); it was considered a nomen dubium by Prothero (1996) and Tabrum and Nichols (2001).
Protomeryx was named by Leidy (1856). Its type is Protomeryx halli.

It was considered a nomen dubium by Loomis (1936); it was considered a nomen dubium by McKenna (1966) and Prothero (1996).

It was assigned to Camelidae by Matthew (1901); to Poebrotheriinae by Hay (1902); and to Camelinae by Simpson (1945).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1821	Camelidae Gray p. 307
1850	Camelidae Bonaparte p. 1
1856	Protomeryx Leidy
1873	Camelidae Leidy p. 317
1874	Poebrotheriidae Cope p. 26
1883	Camelidae Flower p. 184
1886	Gomphotherium Cope p. 619 fig. 10
1887	Eschatiidae Cope
1887	Protolabididae Cope
1889	Camelidae Cope p. 877
1889	Eschatiidae Cope p. 877
1889	Protolabididae Cope p. 877
1891	Camelidae Flower and Lydekker p. 90
1891	Poebrotheriidae Flower and Lydekker p. 90
1893	Poebrotheriinae Zittel
1899	Gomphotherium serus Douglass p. 12 figs. Plate 1
1901	Protomeryx Matthew p. 422
1902	Camelidae Hay p. 673
1902	Poebrotheriinae Hay p. 675
1902	Protomeryx Hay p. 676
1902	Protomeryx serus Hay p. 676
1908	Camelidae Lambe
1908	Camelidae Matthew p. 561
1910	Camelidae Gregory p. 466
1929	Altomeryx Frick p. 107
1940	Camelidae Scott p. 604
1945	Alticamelinae Simpson p. 150
1945	Poebrotheriinae Simpson p. 150
1945	Protomeryx Simpson p. 150
1955	Poebrotheriinae Gazin
1965	Aepycamelinae Webb p. 37
1966	Alticamelinae Maglio p. 11
1980	Camelidae Kurten and Anderson p. 301
1981	Camelidae Thurmond and Jones p. 188
1988	Camelidae Carroll
1990	Camelidae Dingus p. 13
1991	Camelidae Nowak
1996	Camelidae Prothero p. 610
1997	Aepycamelinae McKenna and Bell
2001	Camelidae Thewissen et al. p. suppl.
2004	Camelidae Webb and Meachen p. 350
2005	Camelidae Whistler and Webb p. 5
2006	Camelidae Hulbert and Whitmore p. 6
2007	Camelidae Honey
2008	Camelidae Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 974 figs. Fig. 2
2009	Camelidae Spaulding et al.
2015	Camelidae Baskin and Thomas p. 119

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Triploblastica
—	Nephrozoa
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
—	Sarcopterygii
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda	()
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
—	Batrachosauria	()
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota

Rank	Name	Author
—	Synapsida	()
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Epicynodontia
infraorder	Eucynodontia
—	Probainognathia
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
infraclass	Eutheria	()
order	Ungulata	(Linnaeus 1766)
order	Artiodactyla	()
suborder	Tylopoda	()
superfamily	Cameloidea
family	Camelidae
family	Camelidae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
D. R. Prothero 1996	he Family Camelidae is united by the following shared characters that distinguish it from the remaining Tylopoda, and all other artiodactyls: fully selenodont, transversely compressed upper molars that are relatively high- crowned (compared to other primitive Tylopoda), with straight ectolophs, and with fossettes that are closed anteriorly and posteriorly after moderate wear. Relatively long, narrow rostrum. Postorbital processes well developed, and nearly or completely closed. Inflated tympanic bulla filled with cancellous bone and indented by a deep tympanohyal groove. Angular process on mandible with a distinctive dorsal "hook." Long, unfused to fused, distally divergent middle metapodials with metacarpals II and IV and metatarsals II and V reduced to nodules. Metatarsals III and IV have flattened dorsal surfaces and their distal keels do not extend to the dorsal side. Fibular facet on the calcaneum has a proximal convexity and a dorsal concavity.

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

terrestrialo

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

ground dwellingf

Diet:

browserf

Diet 2:

browserf

Comments:

life habit based on Nowak 1999; living camelids are grazers according to Nowak 1999, but fossil camels were largely browsers according to Honey et al. 1998f

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-08-31 16:42:02

Source: f = family, o = order, c = class, subp = subphylum

References: Nowak 1991, Nowak 1999, Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Uintan to the top of the Holocene or 46.20000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 40.4 Ma

Collections (1377 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Oldest occurrences
Uintan	46.2 - 40.4	USA (California)	Poebrodon californicus (16590)
Uintan	46.2 - 40.4	USA (Utah)	Poebrodon kayi (16607)
Uintan	46.2 - 40.4	USA (Wyoming)	Poebrodon sp. (16648)
Uintan	46.2 - 40.4	Mexico (Oaxaca)	Poebrotherium sp. (166797)
Duchesnean	40.4 - 37.2	USA (California)	Camelidae indet. (16813)
Duchesnean	40.4 - 37.2	USA (New Mexico)	Camelidae indet. (16882)
Duchesnean - Early/Lower Chadronian	40.4 - 33.9	USA (California)	Camelidae indet. (17039)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Nebraska)	Paratylopus labiatus, Poebrotherium eximium (16970) Poebrotherium eximium (16918 17031) Poebrotherium sp. (16929 16940 17014) Poebrotherium wilsoni (16930)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Montana)	Poebrotherium eximium (16925) Poebrotherium sp. (16914 16935 16988 17010)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Wyoming)	Poebrotherium eximium (16942 16986) Poebrotherium eximium, Poebrotherium wilsoni (16943) Poebrotherium sp. (16901 16902 16960 16961 16962 16963 16964 16965 16992)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	Canada (Saskatchewan)	Poebrotherium sp. (16893 16919)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (North Dakota)	Poebrotherium sp. (16991)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Texas)	Poebrotherium chadronense, Poebrotherium franki (16888)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Colorado)	Poebrotherium sp. (16977)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (South Dakota)	Camelidae indet. (16938) Poebrotherium andersoni (16885) Poebrotherium sp. (17006)
Chadronian - Orellan	37.2 - 33.3	USA (Wyoming)	Camelidae indet. (17063)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Colorado)	Poebrotherium wilsoni (17082) Poebrotherium wilsoni, Poebrotherium labiatum (17081)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Nebraska)	Paratylopus labiatus (17177) Paratylopus labiatus, Poebrotherium wilsoni (17112 17159) Poebrotherium wilsoni (17062 17098 17164)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (South Dakota)	Paratylopus labiatus (17180) Poebrotherium labiatum (17115) Poebrotherium sp. (17133 17187 17190 17296) Poebrotherium wilsoni (17094 17153 17173 17174 17295)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Wyoming)	Paratylopus labiatus, Poebrotherium eximium, Poebrotherium wilsoni (17134) Poebrotherium eximium, Poebrotherium wilsoni, Poebrotherium labiatum (17104 17105) Poebrotherium sp. (17064 17117) Poebrotherium wilsoni (17106)