| Prolibytherium Temporal range: Early Miocene | |
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| An artist's illustration of a male (left) and female (right) Prolibytherium magnieri | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Prolibytheriidae |
| Genus: | †Prolibytherium Arambourg, 1961 |
| Referred species | |
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Prolybitherium (meaning "Before Libya's Beast") is a genus of artiodactyl ungulates native to Early Miocene North Africa and Pakistan, from around 16.9 to 15.97 million years ago.
Description[]
The 1.80 metres (5 ft 11 in) long creature would have superficially resembled an okapi or a deer. Unlike these, however, Prolibytherium displayed dramatic sexual dimorphism, in that the male had a set of large, leaf-shaped ossicones with a width of 35 centimetres (14 in), while the female had a set of slender, horn-like ossicones.
The taxonomic status of Prolibytherium remains in flux. At one time, it was described as a relative of Sivatherium (as a precursor to "Libytherium maurusium" (Sivatherium maurusium). Later, it would be regarded as a palaeomerycid, or either as a climacoceratid, or as a basal member of Giraffoidea. With the discovery and study of a female skull in 2010, Prolibytherium is tentatively regarded as a climacoceratid.
A recent study published in 2022 found it to be part of a separate family, Prolibytheriidae.
Gallery[]
