''Amphiorycteropus'' (Latin for "near

aardvark Aardvarks ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') are medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammals native to Africa. Aardvarks are the only living species of the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. They have a long proboscis, similar to a pi ...

") is an extinct genus of mammals in the family

Orycteropodidae Orycteropodidae is a family of afrotherian mammals. Although there are many fossil species, the only species surviving today is the aardvark, ''Orycteropus afer''. Orycteropodidae is recognized as the only family within the order Tubulidentata, ...

within

Tubulidentata Orycteropodidae is a family of afrotherian mammals. Although there are many fossil species, the only species surviving today is the aardvark, ''Orycteropus afer''. Orycteropodidae is recognized as the only family within the order Tubulidentata, ...

. The genus is known from fossils dating from

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

, found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Species

Five species are recognized: * ''Amphiorycteropus abundulafus'' - Late Miocene of Chad * ''Amphiorycteropus mauritanicus'' - Late Miocene of Algeria * ''Amphiorycteropus browni'' - Middle to Late Miocene of Pakistan * ''Amphiorycteropus depereti'' - Early Pliocene of France * ''Amphiorycteropus gaudryi'' - Late Miocene of Greece and Turkey Other two species are assigned to the genus provisionally until new material are found and confirm the relationship: * ''Amphiorycteropus pottieri'' - Late Miocene of Turkey * ''Amphiorycteropus seni'' Tekkaya, I. 1993. Türkiye fosil Orycteropodidae’leri. T. C. Kültür Bakanligi Anitlar ve Müzeler Genel Müdürlügü. VIII Arkeometri Sonuçlari Toplantisi 1992, Ankara, 275–289. - Middle Miocene of Turkey

References

Orycteropodidae Prehistoric Afrotheria Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 2009 {{paleo-afrotheria-stub