| Gigantohyrax Temporal range: Late Pliocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Hyracoidea |
| Family: | Procaviidae |
| Genus: | † Gigantohyrax Kitching, 1965 |
| Species: | †G. maguirei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gigantohyrax maguirei Kitching, 1965 | |
Gigantohyrax was a genus of herbivorous hyrax-grouped mammals from the Pliocene Shungura Formation of Ethiopia. [1] Fossils have also been found in Makapansgat of South Africa. [2] [3]
Gigantohyrax maguirei is a type and only species. Holotype BPI M8230 is two thirds of an anterior part of the skull with complete upper dentition. The second and third incisors are lost, making it more similar to latest hyraxes than the earlier species. [4] [3] Despite its name, Gigantohyrax did not reach such gigantic sizes as Megalohyrax and Titanohyrax from the Early Tertiary, [4] although it was three times as large as the extant Procavia capensis from the same family. [3]
It has many features in common with the extinct Dendrohyrax , although Gigantohyrax has less difference between the parameters of the molars and premolars. [2]
A lynx is any of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus Lynx. The name originated in Middle English via Latin from the Greek word lynx, derived from the Indo-European root *leuk-, in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes.
A mammal is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia. Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles and birds, from which their ancestors diverged in the Carboniferous Period over 300 million years ago. Around 6,400 extant species of mammals have been described and divided into 27 orders. The study of mammals is called mammalogy.
Orcinus is a genus of Delphinidae, the family of carnivorous marine mammals known as dolphins. It includes the largest delphinid species, Orcinus orca, known as the orca or killer whale. Two extinct species are recognised, Orcinus paleorca and O. citoniensis, describing fossilised remains of the genus. The other extinct species O. meyeri is disputed.
The South American foxes (Lycalopex), commonly called raposa in Portuguese, or zorro in Spanish, are a genus from South America of the subfamily Caninae. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to wolves and jackals than to true foxes; some of them resemble foxes due to convergent evolution. The South American gray fox, Lycalopex griseus, is the most common species, and is known for its large ears and a highly marketable, russet-fringed pelt.
Pedetes is a genus of rodent, the springhares, in the family Pedetidae. Members of the genus are distributed across southern and Eastern Africa.
Lystrosaurus is an extinct genus of herbivorous dicynodont therapsids from the late Permian and Early Triassic epochs. It lived in what is now Antarctica, India, China, Mongolia, European Russia and South Africa. Four to six species are currently recognized, although from the 1930s to 1970s the number of species was thought to be much higher. They ranged in size from that of a small dog to 8 feet (2.5 meters) long.
The Barbary sheep, also known as aoudad, is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa and parts of West Africa. While this is the only species in genus Ammotragus, six subspecies have been described. Although it is rare in its native North Africa, it has been introduced to North America, southern Europe, and elsewhere. It is also known in the Berber language as waddan or arwi, and in former French territories as the mouflon.
Metailurus is a genus of saber-toothed cat in the family Felidae, and belonging to the tribe Metailurini, which occurred in North America, Eurasia and Africa from the Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene.
Agriotherium is an extinct genus of bears whose fossils are found in Miocene through Pleistocene-aged strata of North America, Eurasia, and Africa. This long-lived genus persisted from at least ~11.6–2.5 Mya. Materials from the late-surviving A. africanum in Africa have suggested that A. africanum died out during the early Gelasian.
Megalotragus was a genus of very large extinct African alcelaphines that occurred from the Pliocene to early Holocene. Its skull resembled that of modern hartebeests, but it differed in having a larger body size and wildebeest-like proportions. Megalotragus includes some of the largest bovid species in the subfamily Alcelaphinae, reaching a shoulder height of 1.4 m (4.6 ft). The genus consists of three species of which Megalotragus priscus survived until the early Holocene 7.500 C14yBP.
Phacochoerus is a genus in the family Suidae, commonly known as warthogs. They are pigs who live in open and semi-open habitats, even in quite arid regions, in sub-Saharan Africa. The two species were formerly considered conspecific under the scientific name Phacochoerus aethiopicus, but today this is limited to the desert warthog, while the best-known and most widespread species, the common warthog, is Phacochoerus africanus.
Smith's red rockhare, Smith's red rock hare or Smith's red rock rabbit is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae, and is the smallest member of the genus Pronolagus. The upperparts and gular collar are reddish brown in colour. It has warm, brown, grizzled, thicker hairs at the back of the body, and white to tawny, thinner underfur. It is native to Africa, found in parts of Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is a folivore, and usually forages on grasses, shrubs and herbs. It breeds from September to February, and the female litters one or two offspring. The young leave the nest at three years of age. In 1996, it was rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.
Hippotragus is a genus of antelopes which includes two living and one recently extinct species, as well as some fossil relatives. The name comes from Greek ἵππος (híppos), "horse", and τράγος (trágos), "he-goat".
Henricosborniidae is a family of extinct notoungulate mammals known from the Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene of Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. The name honors U.S. paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.
A penis is a male sex organ that is used to inseminate female or hermaphrodite animals during copulation. Such organs occur in both vertebrates and invertebrates, including humans, but not in all male animals.
The Late Pleistocene to the beginning of the Holocene saw the extinction of the majority of the world's megafauna, which resulted in a collapse in faunal density and diversity across the globe. The extinctions during the Late Pleistocene are differentiated from previous extinctions by its extreme size bias towards large animals, and widespread absence of ecological succession to replace these extinct megafaunal species, and the regime shift of previously established faunal relationships and habitats as a consequence. The timing and severity of the extinctions varied by region and are thought to have been driven by varying combinations of human and climatic factors. Human impact on megafauna populations is thought to have been driven by hunting ("overkill"), as well as possibly environmental alteration. The relative importance of human vs climatic factors in the extinctions has been the subject of long-running controversy.
Hyraxes, also called dassies, are small, stout, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Modern hyraxes are typically between 30 and 70 cm in length and weigh between 2 and 5 kg. They are superficially similar to marmots, or over-large pikas, but are much more closely related to elephants and sirenians. Hyraxes have a life span from nine to 14 years. Both types of "rock" hyrax live on rock outcrops, including cliffs in Ethiopia and isolated granite outcrops called koppies in southern Africa.
Ichthyoconodon is an extinct genus of eutriconodont mammal from the Lower Cretaceous of Morocco. It is notable for having been found in a unique marine location, and the shape of its teeth suggests an unusual, potentially fish-eating ecological niche. Analysis suggests it is part of a group of gliding mammals that includes Volaticotherium.
Megalohyrax is an extinct hyrax-grouped genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Oligocene, about 33-30 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Africa and in Asia Minor.
Microhyrax was a prehistoric genus of herbivorous hyrax-grouped mammal. It lived during the Eocene period from 55.8 to 40.4 million years ago in modern-day Algeria.
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