| Prolibytherium Temporal range: Early Miocene |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Climacoceratidae |
| Genus: | Prolibytherium |
| Species: | Prolibytherium magnieri Arambourg, 1961 |
Prolibytherium ("Before Libya's Beast") is an extinct artiodactyl ungulate native to Early Miocene North Africa.
The 1.80 m (6 ft) long creature was related to the modern giraffe and okapi. Unlike these, however, Prolibytherium had a set of large, leaf-shaped ossicones with a width of 35 cm (1 ft 2 in). These were probably used for display and fights, much like the antlers of a deer.[1]
It was once regarded as a giraffid. Specifically, it was once regarded as the ancestral form of the African species of Sivatherium (S. maurusium), when it was originally described as "Libytherium." Prolibytherium is now regarded as a climacoceratid, due to the formation of its wide, palmate ossicones.