Arsinoitheriidae
Extinct family of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arsinoitheriidae is a family of mammals belonging to the extinct order Embrithopoda.[1] Remains have been found in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Romania. Arsinotheriids were closely related to hyraxes, elephants, sirenians, and possibly desmostylians (as part of the superorder Afrotheria).[2] The name of the clade honors Queen Arsinoe II of Egypt, as the first fossils of Arsinoitherium were found near the ruins of her palace.[3]
| Arsinoitheriidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeleton of Arsinoitherium zitteli | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | †Embrithopoda |
| Family: | †Arsinoitheriidae Andrews, 1904 |
| Genera | |
Description
Arsinoitheriids are easily recognized by their prominent nose horns, which, in life, were likely covered in keratin.[4] The horns are derived from the nasal bones.[5] They are also characterized by pseudolophodont molars.[6] They also had small incisors, which may have asked as some form of tusk.[3]
Fossil record
Based on the less derived traits of Namatherium, it is assumed that Arsinoitheriidae underwent a divergent evolution sometime during the Lutetian.[7] The latest living genus, Arsinoitherium, was first recovered from the Latest Eocene of the Fayum;[8] it disappears from the fossil record altogether before the end of the Early Oligocene.[8]