Hemibos

Last updated

Hemibos
Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Middle Pleistocene
Probubalus occipitalis.JPG
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Bovinae
Subtribe: Bubalina
Genus: Hemibos
Falconer, 1865
Type species
Hemibos triquetricornis
Falconer, 1865
Species [1]
  • H. acuticornis
  • H. antelopinus
  • H. gracilis
  • H. palaestinus?
  • H. triquetricornis

Hemibos is an extinct even-toed ungulate belonging to the family Bovidae. Its fossil remains were found across Asia and Europe such as from China, Italian Peninsula, Iberian Peninsula, and State of Palestine, Israel, Pakistan, India. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Description

This animal was a large bovid similar to the modern Asian buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), of which it is probably ancestral. It was characterized by elongated and non-prominent frontal bones; the bone cores of the horns did not have a neck at the base, and the angle between the horns was variable but usually between 85 ° and 110 °. Also, the orientation of the horns was variable according to the species: the species H. triquetricornis, H. acuticornis and H. galerianus possessed horns directed backwards, outwards and slightly upwards, while H. antelopinus and H. palaestinus possessed different morphologies. [6] The teeth were hypsodont, with increasing development of dental cement; the upper molars were square.

Classification

The genus Hemibos was first described in 1865 by Rütimeyer, based on fossils found in India in Plio-Pleistocene soils. The genus includes five species; three of these (H. acuticornis, H. triquetricornis and H. antelopinus) come from the Pinjor formation of the Siwaliks (Plio-Pleistocene, Indian subcontinent), [2] one (H. gracilis) is known from Gansu (China) in the lower Pleistocene, and another (H. galerianus) is the largest and most recent and comes from Ponte Galeria and Ponte Milvio (Rome, Italy) and dates from the Early Pleistocene/Middle Pleistocene boundary. In lower Pleistocene Spain, a form similar to H. gracilis was found. Another species attributed to Hemibos is H. palaestinicus from Israel, but the dating is not certain and a morphological analysis indicates it may belong to the genus Bison . The species Probubalus occipitalis is considered identical to H. triquetricornis.

Related Research Articles

<i>Bubalus</i> Genus of bovines

Bubalus is a genus of Asiatic bovines that was proposed by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. Bubalus and Syncerus form the subtribe Bubalina, the true buffaloes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four-horned antelope</span> Small antelope from Asia (Tetracerus quadricornis)

The four-horned antelope, or chousingha, is a small antelope found in India and Nepal. Its four horns distinguish it from most other bovids, which have two horns. The sole member of the genus Tetracerus, the species was first described by French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1816. Three subspecies are recognised. The four-horned antelope stands nearly 55–64 centimetres (22–25 in) at the shoulder and weighs nearly 17–22 kilograms (37–49 lb). Slender with thin legs and a short tail, the four-horned antelope has a yellowish brown to reddish coat. One pair of horns is located between the ears, and the other on the forehead. The posterior horns are always longer than the anterior horns, which might be mere fur-covered studs. While the posterior horns measure 8–12 centimetres (3.1–4.7 in), the anterior ones are 2–5 centimetres (0.79–1.97 in) long.

<i>Antilope</i> Genus of mammals

Antilope is a genus of twisted-horn bovid that contains a single living species, the blackbuck of South Asia. Two extinct species are also known.

<i>Palaeoloxodon recki</i> Extinct species of elephant

Palaeoloxodon recki is an extinct species of elephant native to Africa from the late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene. During most of its existence, it represented the dominant elephant species in East Africa. Its descendant taxon or last evolutionary stage, Palaeoloxodon iolensis, is known from remains found across Africa of late Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene age. Both P. recki and P. iolensis are thought to have been grazers, based on isotopic and morphological evidence. Following the extinction of P. iolensis it was replaced by the modern African bush elephant. At the end of the Early Pleistocene, a population of P. recki migrated out of Africa, giving rise to the Eurasian radiation of Palaeoloxodon.

<i>Pelorovis</i> Extinct genus of cattle

Pelorovis is an extinct genus of African wild cattle which existed during the Pleistocene epoch. The best known species is Pelorovis oldowayensis from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, from the Early Pleistocene. The species "Pelorovis" antiquus from the Late Pleistocene-Holocene has since been moved into Syncerus, the same genus as living African buffalo.

Bos acutifrons is the most ancient representative of the genus Bos, cattle. Fossils of an individual of B. acutifrons were found in middle Pleistocene-aged strata of Siwalik Hills of Kashmir, in either modern Pakistan or India, in the 19th century. The prehistoric species was described, along with B. planifrons, by Richard Lydekker in 1878. In 1898 Lydekker synonymised B. planifrons with B. acutifrons, reconsidering the skull found to be that of a female individual of the same species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovini</span> Tribe of cattle

The tribe Bovini, or wild cattle, are medium to massive bovines that are native to Eurasia, North America, and Africa. These include the enigmatic, antelope-like saola, the African and Asiatic buffalos, and a clade that consists of bison and the wild cattle of the genus Bos. Not only are they the largest members of the subfamily Bovinae, they are the largest species of their family Bovidae. The largest species is the gaur, weighing up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lb).

<i>Prolagus</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Prolagus is an extinct genus of pika within the order Lagomorpha. Over 20 species of Prolagus have been named, beginning in the Early Miocene in Europe 20 million years ago, where it ranged widely for most of the epoch; by the end of the Middle Pleistocene, it was confined to a single species, the Sardinian pika, on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica, Sardinia, and surrounding islands, where it survived into historical times. In Africa and Asia, the genus is known from the Miocene and Pliocene. The scientific name may mean "before hares" or "primitive hares".

<i>Xenocyon</i> Extinct subgenus of carnivores

Xenocyon is an extinct group of canids, either considered a distinct genus or a subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon is thought to be closely related and possibly ancestral to modern dhole and the African wild dog, as well as the insular Sardinian dhole.

<i>Lycaon</i> (genus) Genus of carnivores

Lycaon is a genus of canid which includes the African wild dog and the extinct Lycaon sekowei.

<i>Soergelia</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Soergelia is a genus of extinct ovibovine caprine that was common across Europe, North America and Asia in the Pleistocene epoch.

<i>Praemegaceros</i> Extinct genus of deer

Praemegaceros is an extinct genus of deer, known from the Pleistocene and Holocene of Western Eurasia. It contains the subgenera Praemegaceros,Orthogonoceros and Nesoleipoceros. It has sometimes been synonymised with Megaloceros and Megaceroides, however they have been found to be generically distinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyrrhenian mole</span> Extinct species of mammal

The Tyrrhenian mole is an extinct species of mole belonging to the genus Talpa. It was endemic to the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia during the Pleistocene epoch.

Hippopotamus behemoth is an extinct species of hippopotamus from the Early Pleistocene of the Levant. Fossils of it, the modern hippopotamus H. amphibius, and its probable ancestor, H. gorgops, are found in the ‘Ubeidiya site in the southern Levant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bubalina</span> Subtribe of bovines consisting of the true buffalo

Bubalina is a subtribe of wild cattle that includes the various species of true buffalo. Species include the African buffalo, the anoas, and the wild water buffalo. Buffaloes can be found naturally in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, and domestic and feral populations have been introduced to Europe, the Americas, and Australia. In addition to the living species, bubalinans have an extensive fossil record where remains have been found in much of Afro-Eurasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovina (subtribe)</span> Subtribe of cattle

Bovina is a subtribe of the Bovini tribe that generally includes the two living genera, Bison and Bos. However, this dichotomy has been challenged recently by molecular work that suggests that Bison should be regarded as a subgenus of Bos. Wild bovinans can be found naturally in North America and Eurasia.

Capra dalii is a fossil species of goat discovered in Georgia in 2006. It is named for the Georgian goddess Dali, who was considered the guardian of hoofed animals such as ibexes and goats. Fragments of C. dalii fossils were first located at the Dmanisi archaeological site, and are believed to be related to the west Caucasian tur, Capra caucasica. The species is believed to have existed during the Early Pleistocene, around 1.76 million years ago, making it the oldest known example of the Capra genus.

Sivacobus is an extinct species of antelope that lived in South Asia during the Plio-Pleistocene.

Boselaphus namadicus is an extinct species of bovid that lived in South Asia from the Late Pliocene to the Mid Pleistocene.

<i>Megalovis</i> Extinct genus of mammal

Megalovis is an extinct genus of bovid that lived in Eurasia during the Plio-Pleistocene.

References

  1. "Hemibos". Biolib.
  2. 1 2 Khan, M.A. (2016). "Hemibos (Bovini: Bovidae: Ruminantia) from Sardhok Pleistocene of Pakistan". Biologia (Pakistan): 305–311.
  3. Martínez-Navarro, B. (2011). "Presence of the Asian origin Bovini, Hemibos sp. Aff. Hemibos gracilis and Bison sp., at the early Pleistocene site of Venta Micena (Orce, Spain)". Quaternary International. 243 (1): 54–60. Bibcode:2011QuInt.243...54M. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.05.016.
  4. Pilgrim, G.E. (1941). "A fossil skull of Hemibos from Palestine". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 7 (40): 347–360. doi:10.1080/00222934108527163.
  5. "Hemibos triquatricornis". Geological Survey India.
  6. Martı́nez-Navarro, B.; Palombo, M.R. (2004). "Occurrence of the Indian genus Hemibos (Bovini, Bovidae, Mammalia) at the Early–Middle Pleistocene transition in Italy". Cambridge University Press. 61 (3): 314–317. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2004.02.002. S2CID   83990807.

Further reading