Eotragus

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Eotragus
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Eotragus sansaniensis.JPG
Eotragus sansaniensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Tribe: Boselaphini
Genus:† Eotragus
Pilgrim, 1939
Species
  • †E. sansaniensis
  • †E. cristatus
  • †E. halamagaiensis
  • †E. noyei
  • †E. artenensis
Horns Eotragus sansaniensis horn cores.JPG
Horns
Comparative scale between Eotragus and a domestic cat Eotragus CAZ.jpg
Comparative scale between Eotragus and a domestic cat

Eotragus is an extinct genus of early bovid. Species belonging to the genus inhabited Europe, Africa, and Asia during the Miocene some 20-18 million years ago. It is related to the modern nilgai and four-horned antelope. It was small and probably lived in woodland environments.

Contents

Discovery

E. sansaniensis was first described in 1851 by Édouard Lartet, after fossil remains including teeth and a partial skull were unearthed from the Sansan paleontological site southwestern France. [1] It was initially assigned the scientific name Antilope sansaniensis, before later being assigned to the new genus Eotragus once it was understood to be an early bovid.

Palaeoecology

E. lampangensis, based on carbon isotope studies, inhabited habitats intermediate between forest and grassland. [2] Dental microwear analysis suggests that Eotragus was most likely a browser as opposed to a grazer. [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Notice sur la colline de Sansan, suivie d'une récapitulation des diverses espèces d'animaux vertébrés fossiles, trouvés soit à Sansan, soit dans d'autres gisements du terrain tertiaire du miocène dans le bassin sous-pyrénéen : Lartet, Edouard, 1801-1871 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  2. ↑ Suraprasit, Kantapon (17 June 2013). "Middle Miocene Bovidae from Mae Moh Basin, Northern Thailand: the first record of the genus Eotragus from Southeast Asia". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica . doi: 10.4202/app.2012.0061 .
  3. ↑ Solounias, Nikos; Moelleken, Sonja M. C. (1992). "Tooth Microwear Analysis of Eotragus sansaniensis (Mammalia: Ruminantia), One of the Oldest Known Bovids". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 12 (1). [Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Taylor & Francis, Ltd.]: 113–121. ISSN   0272-4634. JSTOR   4523426 . Retrieved 16 October 2025.


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