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| Prolibytherium Temporal range: Early Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | ?Climacoceratidae |
| Genus: | Prolibytherium |
| Species: | Prolibytherium magnieri (Arambourg, 1961) |
Prolibytherium ("Before Libya's Beast") is an extinct artiodactyl ungulate native to Early Miocene North Africa, from around 16.9 to 15.97 million years ago.
The 1.80 m (6 ft) long creature would have superficially resembled an okapi or a deer. Unlike these, however, Prolibytherium displayed dramatic sexual dimorphism, in that the male had a set of large, leaf-shaped ossicones with a width of 35 cm (1 ft 2 in), while the female had a set of slender, horn-like ossicones.
The taxonomic status of Prolibytherium remains in flux. At one time, it was described as a relative of Sivatherium (as a precursor to "Libytherium maurusium" (S. maurusium). Later, it would be regarded as a palaeomerycid, or either as a climacoceratid, or as a basal member of Giraffoidea. With the discovery and study of a female skull in 2010, Prolibytherium is tentatively regarded as a climacoceratid.
References
- ^ Sánchez, Israel M., et al. "Sexual dimorphism of the frontal appendages of the early Miocene African pecoran Prolibytherium Arambourg, 1961 (Mammalia, Ruminantia)." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30.4 (2010): 1306-1310.
- "Prolibytherium Arambourg, 1961". GBIF.org. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- "Prolibytherium". Fossilworks. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
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