PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Megalagus

Mammalia - Lagomorpha - Leporidae

Taxonomy

Megalagus was named by Walker (1931). It is not extant.

It was assigned to Palaeolaginae by Dawson (1958); and to Leporidae by Walker (1931), Johnson (1966), McKenna and Bell (1997), Lofgren et al. (2020).

Species

M. abaconis, M. brachyodon (syn. Desmatolagus dicei), M. dawsoni, M. primitivus, M. turgidus (syn. Palaeolagus triplex, Tricium paniense)

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1931	Megalagus Walker
1958	Megalagus Dawson p. 10
1966	Megalagus Johnson p. 80
1997	Megalagus McKenna and Bell
2020	Megalagus Lofgren et al.

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()

Rank	Name	Author
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Euarchontoglires	Murphy et al. 2001
—	Gliriformes	Wyss and Meng 1996
—	Glires	()
—	Duplicidentata	()
order	Lagomorpha	Brandt 1885
family	Leporidae
subfamily	Palaeolaginae	Dice 1929
genus	Megalagus	Walker 1931

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.

G. †Megalagus Walker 1931

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†Megalagus abaconis Hayes 2000

†Megalagus brachyodon Matthew 1903

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Invalid names: Desmatolagus dicei Burke 1936 [synonym]

†Megalagus dawsoni Black 1961

†Megalagus primitivus Schlaikjer 1935

†Megalagus turgidus Cope 1873

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Invalid names: Palaeolagus triplex Cope 1873 [synonym], Tricium paniense Cope 1873 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

terrestrialsubc

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

ground dwellingf

Diet:

grazerf

Diet 2:

browserf

Reproduction:

viviparoussubc

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-08-26 13:52:57

Source: f = family, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum

References: Carroll 1988, Lillegraven 1979, Ji et al. 2002, Hendy et al. 2009, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Middle Chadronian to the top of the early Early Arikareean or 37.20000 to 18.50000 Ma

Collections (93 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Duchesnean - Chadronian	39.7 - 33.9	USA (Montana)	M. sp. (16840)
Duchesnean - Early/Lower Chadronian	39.7 - 33.9	USA (Montana)	M. brachyodon (230862)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Nebraska)	M. brachyodon (16930 16940 16941 17014 17031)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. brachyodon (16919 16979) Palaeolagus turgidus (101961)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (North Dakota)	M. brachyodon (16991)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Wyoming)	M. brachyodon (16920 16962 16963 16964 16965) M. brachyodon, M. turgidus (16942) M. sp. (16952) M. turgidus (16943)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Montana)	M. brachyodon (16924 16935 16959 17010 17041) M. sp. (16990) Palaeolagus triplex (16988)
Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (South Dakota)	M. turgidus (17007)
Late/Upper Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Montana)	M. brachyodon (17027)
Late/Upper Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. turgidus (16981)
Late/Upper Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Colorado)	M. brachydon (85117)
Middle Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. sp. (16928)
Middle Chadronian - Late/Upper Chadronian	37.2 - 33.9	USA (Colorado)	M. brachyodon (156988)
Chadronian - Orellan	37.2 - 33.3	USA (Wyoming)	M. turgidus (16993)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (South Dakota)	M. sp. (17187 17189 17198 163487) M. turgidus (17094 17115 17173 17174) Palaeolagus turgidus (17133)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. turgidus (17111)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Nebraska)	M. turgidus (17098 17164 17207 17211 17214 17220 17221 17235 17239 17242 17250 17252 17257 17269 17271 17273)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Wyoming)	M. turgidus (17104 17105 17106)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Montana)	M. turgidus (17090)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (North Dakota)	M. sp. (17100)
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Colorado)	M. turgidus (17081 17082 17083)
Whitneyan	33.3 - 30.8	USA (Nebraska)	M. turgidus (17420)
Whitneyan	33.3 - 30.8	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. primitivus (17372)
Whitneyan	33.3 - 30.8	USA (South Dakota)	M. sp. (17384) M. turgidus (17336 17337 17338)
Geringian	30.8 - 26.3	USA (South Dakota)	M. primitivus (17623 17630 17633 17634 17635 17636 17637 17641 17651 17652)
Geringian	30.8 - 26.3	USA (Nebraska)	M. sp. (17709)
Geringian - Monroecreekian	30.8 - 24.8	USA (Florida)	M. sp. (17487)
Arikareean	29.5 - 18.5	USA (Florida)	M. abaconis (17476)
Arikareean	29.5 - 18.5	USA (Montana)	M. dawsoni (17509) M. sp. (17540)
Arikareean	29.5 - 18.5	USA (Nebraska)	M. primitivus (17708)
early Early Arikareean	29.5 - 18.5	USA (Nebraska)	M. primitivus (156729)
early Early Arikareean - late Early Arikareean	29.5 - 18.5	USA (Wyoming)	Hypolagus primitivus (17730)
Chattian	28.1 - 23.03	USA (Florida)	M. sp. (17860)
Hemingfordian	20.43 - 15.97	Canada (Saskatchewan)	M. dawsoni (18003)