Mitilanotherium

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Mitilanotherium
Temporal range: Pliocene to Pleistocene
Mitilanotherium.svg
An outline of Mitilanotherium
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Genus: Mitilanotherium
Species

M. inexpectatum

Mitilanotherium is an extinct genus of giraffes from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Europe.

The mandible (the lower jaw bone) of Mililanotherium sp. Mitilanotherium 2.jpg
The mandible (the lower jaw bone) of Mililanotherium sp.

It was a medium-sized giraffid, resembling the modern okapi, with two long ossicones directly above its eyes, and relatively long and slender limbs. Fossils have been found in Greece, Romania, Ukraine, and Spain. [1]

Taxonomy

Some studies have suggested that Mitilanotherium is a junior synonym of Palaeotragus . [2]

References

  1. Lyras, George; VandeGeer, A.A.E. (2007). "The Late Pliocene vertebrate fauna of Vatera (Lesvos Island, Greece)" (PDF). Cranium. 24 (2): 11–24. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
  2. Athanassiou, Athanassios (2014). "New girafid (Artiodactyla) material from the Lower Pleistocene locality of Sésklo (SE Thessaly, Greece): evidence for an extension of the genus Palaeotragus into the Pleistocene". Zitteliana. 32: 71–89. doi:10.5282/UBM/EPUB.22388 . Retrieved 12 October 2025 via Ludwigs-Maximilian-Universität.