Barytherium

Taxobox
name = "Barytherium"
fossil_range = Late Eocene to Early Oligocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Proboscidea
familia = †Barytheriidae
familia_authority = C.W. Andrews, 1906
genus = "†Barytherium"
genus_authority = C.W. Andrews, 1901
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "†B. grave" C.W. Andrews, 1901

Barytherium is a genus of an extinct family (Barytheriidae) of primitive proboscidean that lived during the late Eocene and early Oligocene in North Africa. The Barytheriidae were the first large size proboscideans to appear in the fossil records and were characterized by a strong sexual dimorphism Fact|date=May 2008.

The only known species within this family is "Barytherium grave", found at the beginning of the 20th century in the Fayum, Egypt. More complete specimens have been found since then, at Dor el Talha Libya. In some respects, these animals would have looked similar to a modern Asian Elephant, but with a more slender build Fact|date=May 2008. The most visible difference, however, would have been the tusks Fact|date=May 2008. "Barytherium" had eight very short tusks, four each in the upper and lower jaws, which resembled those of a modern hippopotamus more than those of an elephant. The upper pairs were vertical, while the lower pairs projected forwards from the mouth horizontally. Together, these would have created a shearing action for cropping plantscite book |author= Savage, RJG, & Long, MR|year=1986 |title= Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide|publisher= Facts on File|location=New York|pages= 148|isbn= 0-8160-1194-X] .

References

* Andrews, C.W. 1901. Über das Vorkommen von Proboscidiern in untertertiären Ablagerungen Aegyptens. "Tageblatt des V Internationalen Zoologischen Kongresses, Berlin" 6: 4–5.