''Crivadiatherium'' 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 Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Palaeoamasiidae Palaeoamasiidae or Palaeoamasinae is an extinct taxon of embrithopod mammals that have been found in Romania and Anatolia where they lived on the shores of the Tethys Ocean The Tethys Ocean ( el, Τηθύς ''Tēthús''), also called the Tet ...

, which

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains—teeth and mandible fragments—have been discovered in the

Crivadia The Crivadia is a left tributary of the river Strei in Romania. It flows into the Strei in Baru ''Baru'' is an extinct genus of Australian mekosuchine crocodilian. It was semi-aquatic, around 4 m (13 ft) in length. Being semi-aquati ...

site in the

Hațeg Hațeg (; german: Wallenthal; hu, Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 9,340. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad (''Nalácvád''), Silvașu de Jos (''Alsószilvás''), and Silvașu de Sus ( ...

depression,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The age of the Crivadia site is not clear, but seems to be between the

Late Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "daw ...

to the

Early Oligocene The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two ages or the lower of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded by the Priabonian Stage (part of the Eocene) and is followed by the Chatti ...

. The teeth of ''Crivadiatherium'', compared with those of its relatives as ''

Palaeoamasia ''Palaeoamasia'' is an extinct herbivorous paenungulate mammal of the embrithopod order, making it distantly related to elephants, sirenians, and hyraxes. ''Palaeoamasia'' fossils have been found in Turkish deposits of the Çeltek Formation, d ...

'' from Turkey and ''

Arsinoitherium ''Arsinoitherium'' is an extinct genus of paenungulate mammals belonging to the extinct Order (biology), order Embrithopoda. It is related to elephants, sirenians, hyraxes and the extinct desmostylians. Arsinoitheres were superficially rhinoceros ...

'' from Egypt, shows features more primitive, with lower molars without lobes and less

bilophodont The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

. It is probable that ''Crivadiatherium'' lived in

lacustrine A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

environments, maybe eating abrasive plants.

References

Embrithopods Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 1976 Oligocene mammals of Europe {{paleo-afrotheria-stub