Daouitherium

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Daouitherium Fossil range: Early Eocene
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Proboscidea Family: Numidotheriidae Genus: Daouitherium Gheerbrant et al., 2002
Species
D. rebouli Gheerbrant et al., 2002

Daouitherium ("Sidi Daoui beast" from the name of the site where it was discovered) is an extinct genus of early proboscidean that lived during the early Eocene (Ypresian) of North Africa.

Remains of this animal which consist of fragments of jaws and teeth have been found in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco. Of the size of a tapir, Daouitherium is the earliest large mammal known from Africa and one of the oldest known proboscidean.

[edit] References

• Gheerbrant, E., Sudre, J., Cappetta, H., Iarochène, M., Amaghzaz, M., and Bouya, B. 2002. A new large mammal from the Ypresian of Morocco: Evidence of surprising diversity of early proboscideans. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 (3): 493–506.