Phosphatherium
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Extinct (fossil)
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Phosphatherium is an extinct genus of primitive proboscidean that lived during the paleocene of North Africa.
Known from fragmentary dentary materials from the paleocene (Thanetian) deposits of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco, it is the smallest (about 60 cm long) and the oldest known member of the proboscidean order. It is also the oldest known modern ungulate. The animal was probably amphibious, living on a diet of soft aquatic plants.
[edit] References
- Gheerbrant, E., Sudre, J., and Cappetta, H. 1996. A Palaeocene proboscidean from Morocco. Nature 383: 68–71
