Superorder †Meridiungulata Phylum Chordata | Infraclass Eutheria Rank Genus Subclass Theria | |
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Similar Astrapotheria, Astrapotheriidae, Granastrapotherium, Astrapotherium, Trigonostylops | ||
Parastrapotherium is an extinct genus of South American land mammal that existed from the Late Oligocene (Deseadan SALMA) to the Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian SALMA) 28.1 to 23.03 million years ago. The genus includes some of the largest and smallest known astrapotherian, but at present no generally recognized description can adequately characterize it.
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Description
The genus was first described by Ameghino 1895. He distinguished it from the Santacrucian (late Early Miocene) Astrapotherium (Burmeister 1879) based on the greater number of upper and lower molars. Although later researchers disagreed and concluded that Ameghino based his conclusion on very fragmentary materials, they mostly agreed to distinguish the genus from other groups of astrapotherians.