''Megalohyrax'' is an extinct

hyrax Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...

-grouped genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

, and

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

, about 55-11 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Africa and in Asia Minor.

Description

This animal was very different from the current hyraxes and much larger, generally reaching the size of a

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

and sometimes exceeding in length. The legs were strong and the body very massive. The skull was long and low, unlike that of today's hyraxes, and could reach in length. Length of upper premolars and molars is and , respectively. The dental formula of ''Megalohyrax'' was composed of three incisors, one canine, four premolars and three molars. It likely had an

eustachian tube In anatomy, the Eustachian tube, also known as the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube, is a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear, of which it is also a part. In adult humans, the Eustachian tube is approximately long and in d ...

Classification and habitats

It was first described by Andrews in 1903. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is ''Megalohyrax eocaenus'', was found in the El Fayum area in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. Other fossils attributed to this kind have been found in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

References

* Andrews, CW 1903. "Notes on an expedition to the Fayum, Egypt, with descriptions of some new mammals". ''Geological Magazine'' 4: 337–343. * CW Andrews. 1906. ''A Descriptive Catalogue of the Tertiary Vertebrata of Fayum, Egypt'' 1–324 * J. Sudre. 1979. "Nouveaux MAMMIFERES eocenes du Sahara occidental". ''Palaeovertebrata'' 9 (3): 83–115 * DT Rasmussen and EL Simons. 1988. "New Oligocene hyracoids from Egypt". ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 8 (1): 67–83 * JGM Thewissen, Simons EL (2001) "Skull of ''Megalohyrax eocaenus'' (Hyracoidea, Mammalia) from the Oligocene of Egypt". ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 21: 98–106. * J. Kappelman, DT Rasmussen, WJ Sanders, M. Feseha, T. Bown, P. Copeland, J. Crabaugh, J. Fleagle, M. Glantz, A. Gordon, B. Jacobs, M. Maga, K. Muldoon, A. Pan, L. Pyne, B. Richmond, T. Ryan, ER Seiffert, S. Sen, L. Todd, MC Wiemann and A. Winkler. 2003. "Oligocene mammals from Ethiopia and faunal exchange between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia". ''Nature'' 426: 549–552 Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 1903 Prehistoric hyraxes {{paleo-afrotheria-stub

Description

Classification and habitats

See also

References