Daouitherium
| Daouitherium Temporal range: Early Eocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Lower jaws | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Proboscidea |
| Family: | †Numidotheriidae |
| Genus: | †Daouitherium Gheerbrant and Sudre (in Gheerbrant et al.), 2002 |
| Type species | |
| Daouitherium rebouli Gheerbrant and Sudre (in Gheerbrant et al.), 2002 | |
Daouitherium ("Sidi Daoui beast" from the name of the site where it was discovered) is an extinct genus of early proboscideans (a group including modern elephants and their extinct relatives) that lived during the early Eocene (Ypresian stage) some 55 million years ago in North Africa.
Remains of this animal which consist of fragments of jaws and teeth have been found in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco. It is estimated to have weighed between 80 kg (180 lb) and 170 kg (370 lb), making it one of the earliest large mammals known from Africa and one of the oldest known proboscideans.[1]
Description
Daouitherium is known only from lower jaws and associated cheek-teeth. Daouitherium possess lophodont and bilophodont molars, i.e. molars with large ridges. The 2nd and 3rd premolars possess a notably large cusp called the hypoconid. Gheerbrant et al. described the teeth as similar to the those of other early proboscideans Phosphatherium, Numidotherium, and Barytherium.[1]
See also
References
- 1 2 Gheerbrant, E.; Sudre, J.; Cappetta, H.; Iarochène, M.; Amaghzaz, M.; Bouya, B. (2002). "A new large mammal from the Ypresian of Morocco: Evidence of surprising diversity of early proboscideans" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 (3): 493–506.