Tetrastylus
| Tetrastylus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Skull of Tetrastylus intermedius, taken 2022 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Dinomyidae |
| Genus: | †Tetrastylus Ameghino, 1886 |
| Species | |
|
Tetrastylus angustidens Rusconi, 1934 Tetrastylus araucanus Ameghino, 1904 Tetrastylus atrophiatus Rovereto, 1914 Tetrastylus intermedius Rovereto, 1914 Tetrastylus laevigatus Ameghino, 1886 Tetrastylus montanus Ameghino, 1891 | |
Tetrastylus is an extinct genus of dinomyid rodent that lived in South America during the Neogene and Quaternary periods.[1]
Distribution
Tetrastylus is known from Argentina,[2] Uruguay,[3] Brazil, and Venezuela.[1]
Palaeobiology
Locomotion
Analysis of the occipitocervical morphology of Tetrastylus intermedius specimens from northwestern Argentina suggests that this species was a terrestrial animal, but it still retained some holdover traits related to arborealism from its evolutionary past, such as larger paracondyles relative to the modern pacarana and a size-proportionate head.[2] It was less scansorial, however, than the extant Dinomys.[4]
References
- ^ a b "PBDB Taxon". Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ^ a b Álvarez, Alicia; Ercoli, Marcos D. (2 November 2017). "Why pacaranas never say no: analysis of the unique occipitocervical configuration of † Tetrastylus intermedius Rovereto, 1914, and other dinomyids (Caviomorpha; Dinomyidae)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (6) e1385476. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1385476. ISSN 0272-4634. Retrieved 17 November 2025 – via Taylor and Francis Online.
- ^ Rinderknecht, Andrés; Ubilla, Martín; Manzuetti, Aldo; Toriño, Pablo; Perea, Daniel (5 May 2019). "First record of Tetrastylus Ameghino, 1886 (Rodentia; Dinomyidae) from the Upper Miocene of Uruguay". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 22 (1): 30–37. doi:10.4072/rbp.2019.1.03. hdl:20.500.12008/30077. Retrieved 19 November 2025 – via ResearchGate.
- ^ Ercoli, Marcos D.; Armella, Matías A.; Bonini, Ricardo A. (21 July 2025). "Locomotory habits and palaeoecology of rodents and native ungulates of the Neogene paleocommunities from northwestern Argentina (late Miocene-Pliocene; Santa María Group)". Historical Biology: 1–30. doi:10.1080/08912963.2025.2531425. ISSN 0891-2963. Retrieved 17 January 2026 – via Taylor and Francis Online.