PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Sphenocoelus

Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Brontotheriidae

Taxonomy

Sphenocoelus was named by Osborn (1895). Its type is Sphenocoelus uintensis.

It was assigned to Chalicotheriidae by Hay (1902); to Brontotheridae by Osborn (1895), Carroll (1988) and Prothero and Schoch (1989); to Dolichorhinae by Osborn (1914) and Mader (1998); to Dolichorhinini by Mihlbachler (2008); and to Dolichorhininae by Mader (2008).

Species

Dolichorhinus vallidens, S. hyognathus (syn. S. cornutum, Dolichorhinus longiceps), S. intermedius (syn. Mesatirhinus superior, Dolichorhinus heterodon, Dolichorhinus fluminalis), S. uintensis (syn. S. harundivoras, S. blairi, S. bridgeri) (type species)

Synonyms

Dolichorhinus was named by Hatcher (1895). Its type is Telmatotherium cornutum.

It was synonymized subjectively with Sphenocoelus by Mader (1998) and Mader (2008).

It was assigned to Lambdotheriinae by Hay (1902); to Titanotheriidae by Scott (1913); to Dolichorhinae by Riggs (1912) and Osborn (1914); to Brontotheridae by Hatcher (1895) and Carroll (1988); to Dolichorhininae by Prothero and Schoch (1989); and to Dolichorhinini by Mihlbachler (2008).
Dolichorhinoides was named by Granger and Gregory (1943). Its type is Dolichorhinoides angustidens.

It was synonymized subjectively with Sphenocoelus by Mader (2008).

It was assigned to Epimanteoceratinae by Granger and Gregory (1943); and to Brontotheridae by Carroll (1988) and Prothero and Schoch (1989).
Palaeosyops vallidens was named by Cope (1872).

It was recombined as Telmatotherium vallidens by Osborn (1895); it was recombined as Manteoceras vallidens by Hatcher (1895); it was recombined as Telmatherium vallidens by Hay (1902) and Mader (1989); it was recombined as Dolichorhinus vallidens by Osborn (1929); it was considered a nomen dubium by Mihlbachler (2008).
Tanyorhinus was named by Cook (1926). Its type is Tanyorhinus blairi.

It was synonymized subjectively with Dolichorhinus by Tedford et al. (1987); it was synonymized subjectively with Sphenocoelus by Mader (1998) and Mader (2008).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1872	Palaeosyops vallidens Cope p. 287
1891	Palaeosyops vallidens Earle p. 111
1895	Dolichorhinus Hatcher
1895	Manteoceras vallidens Hatcher
1895	Sphenocoelus Osborn
1895	Telmatotherium vallidens Osborn
1895	Sphenocoelus Osborn p. 98 figs. 12 - 15
1902	Dolichorhinus Hay p. 632
1902	Telmatherium vallidens Hay p. 632
1902	Sphenocoelus Hay p. 691
1912	Dolichorhinus Riggs p. 25
1913	Dolichorhinus Scott p. 291
1914	Dolichorhinus Osborn p. 405
1914	Sphenocoelus Osborn p. 405
1926	Tanyorhinus Cook
1929	Dolichorhinus vallidens Osborn
1943	Dolichorhinoides Granger and Gregory p. 363
1988	Dolichorhinoides Carroll
1988	Dolichorhinus Carroll
1988	Sphenocoelus Carroll
1989	Telmatherium vallidens Mader
1989	Dolichorhinus Prothero and Schoch p. 536
1989	Dolichorhinoides Prothero and Schoch p. 537
1989	Sphenocoelus Prothero and Schoch p. 537
1998	Sphenocoelus Mader p. 530
2008	Sphenocoelus Mader p. 8
2008	Dolichorhinus Mihlbachler p. 409
2008	Sphenocoelus Mihlbachler p. 409

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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	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Panperissodactyla
superorder	Perissodactylamorpha
order	Perissodactyla	()
family	Brontotheriidae	()
subfamily	Brontotheriinae	Marsh 1873
tribe	Dolichorhinini	()
genus	Sphenocoelus

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. †Sphenocoelus Osborn 1895

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†Sphenocoelus hyognathus Osborn 1889

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Invalid names: Dolichorhinus longiceps Douglass 1909 [synonym], Sphenocoelus cornutum Osborn 1895 [synonym]

†Sphenocoelus intermedius Osborn 1908

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Invalid names: Dolichorhinus fluminalis Riggs 1912 [synonym], Dolichorhinus heterodon Douglass 1909 [synonym], Mesatirhinus superior Riggs 1912 [synonym]

†Sphenocoelus uintensis Osborn 1895

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Invalid names: Sphenocoelus blairi Cook 1926 [synonym], Sphenocoelus bridgeri Cook 1926 [synonym], Sphenocoelus harundivoras Cook 1926 [synonym]

Invalid names: Dolichorhinoides Granger and Gregory 1943 [synonym], Dolichorhinus Hatcher 1895 [synonym], Tanyorhinus Cook 1926 [synonym]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
B. J. Mader 2008	Medium to large sized (length P1 to M3 approximately 173–287 mm, length M1 to M3 approximately 101–173 mm) dolichorhinine brontothere with extremely long (hyperdolichocephalic) skull. The genus is also distinguished from other dolichorhinine brontotheres by a small, angular horn at the fronto- nasal boundary over the orbit and by a double suborbital protuberance in which there is a small anterior flange and a large posterior flange. The horn is weak or absent in at least some specimens of Sphenocoelus uintensis, however, and the anterior flange of the suborbital protuberance is weak or absent in certain specimens of S. uintensis and S. intermedius. The condition of the suborbital protuberance is not known with certainty in S. angustidens.

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

phosphaticsubp

Environment:

terrestrialsubc

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

ground dwellingf

Diet:

browserf

Reproduction:

viviparoussubc

Created:

2005-08-31 14:53:16

Modified:

2005-08-31 16:53:16

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

References: Carroll 1988, Hendy et al. 2009, Mader 1998, Lillegraven 1979, Ji et al. 2002

Age range: Uintan or 46.20000 to 39.70000 Ma

Collections (7 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Uintan	46.2 - 39.7	USA (Colorado)	S. uintensis (16623)
Uintan	46.2 - 39.7	USA (Utah)	Dolichorhinus cornutum (16646) Dolichorhinus fluminalis (16548) Dolichorhinus longiceps (16655) Dolichorhinus sp. (16659) Mesatirhinus superior, Dolichorhinus longiceps (16656)
Uintan	46.2 - 39.7	USA (Wyoming)	S. uintensis, Dolichorhinus sp. (16648)