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''Daouitherium'' ("Sidi Daoui beast" from the name of the site where it was discovered) is an extinct
{{Taxonbar, from=Q137458
Numidotheriidae
Eocene proboscideans
Fossils of Morocco
Fossil taxa described in 2002
Prehistoric placental genera
Eocene mammals of Africa
''Daouitherium'' ("Sidi Daoui beast" from the name of the site where it was discovered) is an extinct genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of early proboscideans (a group including modern elephants and their extinct relatives) that lived during the early Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
(Ypresian
In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...
stage) some 55 million years ago in North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
.
Remains of this animal, fragments of jaws and teeth, have been found in the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. It is estimated to have weighed between , making it one of the earliest large mammals known from Africa and one of the oldest known proboscideans. Another estimate gives a weight of .
Description
''Daouitherium'' is known only from lower jaws and associated cheek teeth. It had lophodont and bilophodont molars, i.e. molars with large ridges. The second and third premolars had a notably large cusp called the hypoconid. Gheerbrant et al. described the teeth as similar to those of other early proboscideans '' Phosphatherium'', '' Numidotherium'', and '' Barytherium''.Taxonomy
A cladogram of Proboscidea based on the phylogenetic analysis of Hautier et al. 2021 is below:See also
*Fauna of Africa
The fauna of Africa are all the animals living in Africa and its surrounding seas and islands. The more characteristic African fauna are found in the Afrotropical realm, Afro-tropical realm. Lying almost entirely within the tropics, and stretching ...
References