Palaeotragus

Palaeotragus
Temporal range: Miocene
A pair of Palaeotragus mounts at the Tianjin Natural History Museum.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Artiodactyla
Family:Giraffidae
Genus:†Palaeotragus
Gaudry 1861[1]
Species

P. primaevus
P. germaini
P. microdon
P. decipiens
P. quadricornis
P. rouenii

Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffid from the Miocene of Africa, Eurasia.

P. microdon fossil

Palaeotragus primaevus is the older species, being found in early to mid-Miocene strata, while Palaeotragus germaini is found in Late Miocene strata.

P. primaevus is distinguished from P. germaini by the lack of ossicones. It was also the smaller species, being a little under 2 m (6 ft 7 in) at the shoulders. P. germaini had a pair of ossicones, and in life, it would have resembled either a short-necked, 3 m (9.8 ft) tall giraffe, or a gargantuan okapi.

Notes

  1. ↑ Palaeotragus in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.

References

  • Gaudry, Albert (1861). "Paléontologie. — Résultats des fouilles entreprises en Grèce sous les auspices de l'Académie". Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 53. Paris. p. 239. OCLC 469002103.


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