''Bathyergoides'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
genus of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
from
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
thought to be related to the modern
blesmol
The blesmols, also known as mole-rats, or African mole-rats, are burrowing rodents of the family Bathyergidae. They represent a distinct evolution of a subterranean life among rodents much like the pocket gophers of North America, the tuco-tuc ...
s. It is the only member of the family Bathyergoididae. Fossils of ''Bathyergoides neotertiarius'' were recovered from the
Early Miocene
The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages.
The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 Ma to 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). It was prece ...
Elisabeth Bay Formation
The Elisabeth Bay Formation, alternatively spelled as Elizabeth Bay Formation, is an Early Miocene ( Aquitanian to Burdigalian, around 21 Ma) geologic formation in the Sperrgebiet, ǁKaras Region of southwestern Namibia, overlying the Blaubok C ...
of
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
.
[Pickford, 2018, p.88]
References
Bibliography
*
Hystricognath rodents
Prehistoric rodent genera
Miocene rodents
Miocene mammals of Africa
Fossils of Namibia
Fossil taxa described in 1923
Taxa named by Ernst Stromer
{{paleo-rodent-stub