Dacrytherium fossil map
Where fossils of Dacrytherium have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 45 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 45 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 48.07–27.3 million years ago (Lutetian to Rupelian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Anoplotheriidae |
| Named by | Filhol |
| Fossil records | 58 occurrences at 18 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom |
| Rock formations | txn:57550, Perriere, Collegats, Creechbarrow Limestone, Perrière, Mazaterón |
About Dacrytherium
Dacrytherium (Ancient Greek: δάκρυ (tear, teardrop) + θήρ (beast or wild animal) meaning "tear beast") is an extinct genus of Palaeogene artiodactyls belonging to the family Anoplotheriidae. It occurred from the Middle to Late Eocene of Western Europe and is the type genus of the subfamily Dacrytheriinae, the older of the two anoplotheriid subfamilies. Dacrytherium was first erected in 1876 by the French palaeontologist Henri Filhol, who recognised in his studies that it had dentition similar to the anoplotheriids Anoplotherium and Diplobune but differed from them by a deep preorbital fossa and a lacrimal fossa, the latter of which is where the genus name derives from. D. ovinum, originally classified in Dichobune, is the type species of Dacrytherium. Henri Filhol named D. elegans in 1884, and Hans Georg Stehlin named the species D. priscum and D. saturnini in 1910.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Dacrytherium (revision 1381405446), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q15055623.
