Metriotherium fossil map
Where fossils of Metriotherium have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 30 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 30 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 | 33.9–23.04 million years ago (Rupelian to Chattian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Dichobunidae |
| Named by | Filhol 1882 |
| Fossil records | 6 occurrences at 3 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | France, Spain |
| Rock formations | txn:42324 |
About Metriotherium
Metriotherium is an extinct genus of artiodactyls belonging to the basal family Dichobunidae. It was endemic to western Europe and lived from the Early to Late Oligocene. Metriotherium and its type species M. mirabile were first named by the French naturalist Henri Filhol in 1882, although it was originally named "Mesotherium" in 1880, a name that had been preoccupied decades prior by a separate mammal genus in South America. In total, there are four valid species assigned to the genus.
In comparison to its likely ancestor Dichobune, Metriotherium consists mainly of larger-sized species relative to other members of the Dichobuninae and had selenodont (crescent-like ridges) dentition. It is defined as a distinct dichobunine genus on the basis of some very specific dental morphologies, with some species being known only from isolated dental remains. Whereas the earliest-appearing species M. minutum and the latest M. sarelense were recorded to be smaller-sized species, M. mirabile, with a temporal range occurring roughly in between the two species, was larger in size. It lived in humid but seasonal climates and only briefly overlapped in range with Dichobune in the Early Oligocene before being the last dichobunid known to have existed in Europe up to the Late Oligocene.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Metriotherium (revision 1379787320), 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: Q63522352.
