Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffids from the Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Africa and Eurasia.

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


Palaeotragus inexspectatus from the Early Pleistocene of Greece represents the youngest giraffid in Europe.[2]

Species

P. microdon fossil

The genus consists of the following species:

References

  1. ^ a b Gaudry 1861
  2. ^ Laskos, Kostantis; Kostopoulos, Dimitris S (2024-05-17). "On the last European giraffe, Palaeotragus inexspectatus (Mammalia: Giraffidae); new remains from the Early Pleistocene of Greece and a review of the species". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae056. ISSN 0024-4082.

Further reading


Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palaeotragus
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