Gigantohyrax
Extinct genus of hyrax
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gigantohyrax was a genus of herbivorous hyrax-grouped mammals from the Pliocene Shungura Formation of Ethiopia.[1] Fossils have also been found in Makapansgat of South Africa.[2][3]
| Gigantohyrax Temporal range: Late Pliocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Hyracoidea |
| Family: | Procaviidae |
| Genus: | †Gigantohyrax Kitching, 1965 |
| Species: | †G. maguirei |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gigantohyrax maguirei Kitching, 1965 | |
Description
Gigantohyrax maguirei is the type and only species. Holotype BPI M8230 is two thirds of an anterior part of the skull with complete upper dentition. The second and third incisors are lost, making it more similar to latest hyraxes than the earlier species.[4][3] Despite its name, Gigantohyrax did not reach such gigantic sizes as Megalohyrax and Titanohyrax from the Early Tertiary,[4] although it was three times as large as the extant Procavia capensis from the same family.[3]
It has many features in common with the extant Dendrohyrax, although Gigantohyrax has less difference between the parameters of the molars and premolars.[2]
