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| Cainotheriidae Temporal range: Late Eocene - Middle Miocene,
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| Cainotherium skeleton restoration | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Superfamily: | †Anoplotherioidea |
| Family: | †Cainotheriidae Cope, 1881 |
| Subfamilies | |
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Cainotheriinae Oxacroninae | |
Cainotheriidae is an extinct family of artiodactyls known from the Late Eocene to Middle Miocene of Europe. They are mostly found preserved in karstic deposits.
These animals were small in size, and generally did not exceed 15 centimetres (5.9 in) in height at the shoulders, ranging in size from those of rabbits to tragulids. For a long time, they were considered to have a similar lifestyle to hares and rabbits. The dentition was full and highly selenodont, i.e. the premolars and molars had curved and crescent-shaped cutting edges (as in today's ruminants). The skull was small, with a short snout and orbits closed posteriorly placed at the center of the skull.
A peculiar characteristic of this group were the auditory bulla, protective structures of the bones of the ear : they were very large, like those that are found today in small mammals that live in open and dry environments. This evolved cranial anatomy was in stark contrast to the rest of the skeleton, rather primitive: the cainotheriids still possessed four non-reduced toes (an ancestral condition of the artiodactyls), even if the lateral fingers were shorter; they ended in long claws, as in modern rabbits. The hind legs were much longer than the front ones, and indicate a remarkable adaptation to running and jumping.