''Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi'' is an extinct species of

proboscidea The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. From ...

n mammal, which lived in Northeast Africa during the late

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

some 27 million years ago, and is considered to be the missing link between modern elephants and their ancestors. The fossils of this species are the oldest known fossils featuring the horizontal tooth displacement seen in modern elephants. The species is estimated to have weighed and stood about at the shoulder, much smaller than modern species. The generic name ''Eritreum'' comes from

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

, the country in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

where the specimen was discovered. The specific name ''melakeghebrekristosi'' honors Melake Ghebrekristos, the farmer who found the specimen.

References

* Elephantiformes Oligocene proboscideans Prehistoric placental genera Oligocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 2006 Taxa named by Michael Abraha {{paleo-proboscidean-stub