''Titanohyrax'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus of large to very large

hyrax Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...

from the Eocene and

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 ...

. Specimens have been discovered in modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Some species, like ''T. ultimus'', are estimated to be as large as the modern rhinoceros. ''Titanohyrax'' species are still poorly known due to their rarity in the fossil record. ''Titanohyrax'' is unusual among the numerous

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

hyracoids by its lophoselenodont teeth (having teeth that are lophodont and selenodont, fully molariform premolars, and relatively high-crowned cheek teeth. This suggests the genus had a folivorous diet.Rasmussen, D. T., 1989. The evolution of the Hyracoidea: a review of the fossil evidence. In: Prothero, D.R., Schoch, R.M. (Eds.), The Evolution of Perissodactyls. Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 57-78. The genus was first described by in 1922 for the species ''T. ultimus'' from the early Oligocene of the

Jebel Qatrani Formation The Jebel Qatrani Formation (also Gebel Qatrani) is a palaeontological and geologic formation located in the Faiyum Governorate of central Egypt. Conformably overlying the Qasr el Sagha Formation. It is exposed namely between the Jebel Qat ...

Fayum Depression The Faiyum Oasis ( ar, واحة الفيوم ''Waḥet El Fayyum'') is a depression or basin in the desert immediately to the west of the Nile, or just 62 miles south of Cairo in Egypt. The extent of the basin area is estimated at between 1,270 ...

, Egypt. The author described it as an “extremely gigantic species, being the largest of all the hyracoids hitherto known” - estimates of body mass range from to . ''T. tantulus'' is the smallest ''Titanohyrax'' species known, with a body mass of around .

References

Sources

* ''Fossils'' (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 277) Prehistoric hyraxes Eocene mammals of Africa Oligocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric placental genera Fossil taxa described in 1922 {{paleo-afrotheria-stub

See also

References

Sources