CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Science & Nature

Paschatherium

genus of mammals

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 3, 2025
Entity authorityQ7141799 ↗
Source-derived summary

Paschatherium is a small extinct mammal of the Perissodactyla order, with an insectivore-like dentition.

Its morphology indicates an arboreal form, adapted climbing and running on trees. Paschatherium must have been extremely numerous in the latest Paleocene and earliest Eocene of Europe, since it makes up the majority of all mammal fossils in some fossil sites.

Paschatherium has been viewed as a possible ancestor of our modern elephants, sea cows and hyraxes. However, a 2014 cladistic analysis places it within stem perissodactyls.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Paschatherium” is genus of mammals. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Paschatherium, genus and mammals, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewUseful for establishing the present vocabulary of the subject while preserving a route back to the evidence on which that vocabulary rests. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Paschatherium, genus and mammals is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “genus of mammals” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 3, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7141799. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014.

Critical limits

Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Paschatherium”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Paschatherium primary sources, Paschatherium archive and Paschatherium research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paschatherium”?
  2. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
  3. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Paschatherium” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.