''Saotherium'' is an extinct genus of

hippopotamid Hippopotamidae is a family of stout, naked-skinned, and semiaquatic artiodactyl mammals, possessing three-chambered stomachs and walking on four toes on each foot. While they resemble pigs physiologically, their closest living relatives are t ...

from the

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

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 ...

, specifically

Chad Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...

. It is represented by a single species, ''S. mingoz''. The earliest fossils appear at the start of the Pliocene, while the latest are dated to about 4 mya. ''Saotherium'' was a small hippopotamid similar to the

pygmy hippopotamus The pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy hippo (''Choeropsis liberiensis'') is a small hippopotamid which is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has bee ...

in size and morphology. The elongated shape of its brain case and the relatively large orbits suggest a possible evolutionary relationship with the latter.

References

Hippopotamuses Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Pliocene mammals of Africa Pliocene even-toed ungulates Fossil taxa described in 2005 {{paleo-eventoedungulate-stub