Barytheriidae
Temporal range: Late Eocene–Early Oligocene
Barytherium molar
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Family: †Barytheriidae
C.W. Andrews, 1906
Genera

Barytheriidae (meaning "heavy beasts") is an extinct family of primitive proboscideans that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in North Africa and Oman. The Barytheriidae were the first large-sized proboscideans to appear in the fossil record and were characterized by a strong sexual dimorphism.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ Andrews, C.W. 1901. Über das Vorkommen von Proboscidiern in untertertiären Ablagerungen Aegyptens. Tageblatt des V Internationalen Zoologischen Kongresses, Berlin 6: 4–5.
  2. ^ E. R. Seiffert, S. Nasir, A. Al-Harthy, J. R. Groenke, B. P. Kraatz, N. J. Stevens, and A. R. Al-Sayigh. 2012. Diversity in the later Paleogene proboscidean radiation: a small barytheriid from the Oligocene of Dhofar Governorate, Sultanate of Oman. Naturwissenschaften 99:133-141


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