Kerberos fossil map
Where fossils of Kerberos 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 | 41.03–37.71 million years ago (Bartonian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Hyainailouridae |
| Named by | Solé et al. 2015 |
| Fossil records | 2 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | France |
| Rock formations | txn:347511 |
About Kerberos
Kerberos ("Cerberus", after the multi-headed hellhound which guards the entrance to the Underworld) is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts in the subfamily Hyainailourinae, whose remains are known from France. The type and only known specimen was discovered in 1981 by Dominique Vidalenc, near the city of Lautrec in the Tarn department, in strata from the Sables du Castrais Formation. The specimen, consisting of a well-preserved skull, a lower jaw, and several limb elements, came from Montespieu, a fossil-bearing deposit dating to the Bartonian age of the Eocene; another hyaenodont, Cynohyaenodon, had been previously recovered from the same site. Kerberos was named in 2015 by a team consisting of Vidalenc and colleagues. One species of Kerberos, Kerberos langebadreae, has been described.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Kerberos langebadreae (revision 1372086318), 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: Q50387375.
