Xiphodontidae (from Ancient Greek ξίφος (xíphos), meaning "sword", and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth") is an extinct family of herbivorous even-toed ungulates (order Artiodactyla), endemic to Europe during the Eocene 40.4—33.9 million years ago, existing for about 7.5 million years.PaleoBiology Database: Xiphodontidae, basic info Paraxiphodon suggests that they survived into the Lower Oligocene, at least.
Description The molar teeth of xiphodontids are brachydont (low crowned) and selenodont.
Taxonomy The Xiphodontidae were named by Flower (1883). It was assigned to Artiodactyla by Cope (1889); to Xiphodontoidea by Hooker (1986); and to Tylopoda by Carroll (1988).J. J. Hooker. 1986. Mammals from the Bartonian (middle/late Eocene) of the Hampshire Basin, southern England. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 39(4):191-478R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698 A 2020 study suggested them to be related to ruminants, as well as other Europe-endemic artiodactyls like Cainotheriidae and Anoplotheriidae.
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