Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffids from the Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Africa and Eurasia.
| Palaeotragus Temporal range:
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| Skeletal mount, Tianjin Natural History Museum | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Giraffidae |
| Genus: | †Palaeotragus [1] |
| Type species | |
| †Palaeotragus rouenii Gaudry, 1861
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| Species | |
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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
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The genus consists of the following species:
References
edit- ^ a b Gaudry 1861
- ^ 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
edit- Gaudry, Albert (1861). "Paléontologie. — Résultats des fouilles entreprises en Grèce sous les auspices de l'Académie". Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol. 53. Paris. p. 239. OCLC 469002103.
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External links
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Media related to Palaeotragus at Wikimedia Commons
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