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Arsinoitheriidae
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| Arsinoitheriidae Temporal range:
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| Skeleton of Arsinoitherium zitteli | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Embrithopoda |
| Family: | †Arsinoitheriidae Andrews, 1904 |
| Genera | |
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 the wife of Ptolemy II, Queen Arsinoe II of Egypt, as the first fossils of Arsinoitherium were found near the ruins of her palace.[3]
Description
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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
[edit]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]
References
[edit]- ^ Sanders, William J.; Nemec, Wojciech; Aldinucci, Mauro; Janbu, Nils E.; Ghinassi, Massimiliano (2014-07-29). "Latest evidence of Palaeoamasia (Mammalia, Embrithopoda) in Turkish Anatolia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (5): 1155–1164. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.850430. ISSN 0272-4634.
- ^ Gheerbrant, Emmanuel; Schmitt, Arnaud; Kocsis, László (2018-07-09). "Early African Fossils Elucidate the Origin of Embrithopod Mammals". Current Biology. 28 (13): 2167–2173.e2. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.032. ISSN 0960-9822.
- ^ a b Beadnell, H. J. L.; Beadnell, H. J. L.; Egypt (1902). A preliminary note on Arsinoitherium zitteli, Beadn., from the Upper Eocene strata of Egypt. Cairo: National Printing Department.
- ^ Von, Koenigswald W. (2013). "Unique differentiation of radial enamel in Arsinoitherium (Embrithopoda, Tethytheria)". Historical Biology. 25 (2): 183–192. ISSN 0891-2963.
- ^ Kampouridis, Panagiotis; Hartung, Josephina; Augustin, Felix J. (2023), Hamimi, Zakaria; Khozyem, Hassan; Adatte, Thierry; Nader, Fadi H. (eds.), "The Eocene–Oligocene Vertebrate Assemblages of the Fayum Depression, Egypt", The Phanerozoic Geology and Natural Resources of Egypt, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 373–405, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-95637-0_14, ISBN 978-3-030-95637-0, retrieved 2025-10-01
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ "New data on the earliest known arsinoitheriid embrithopod (Mammalia, Paenungulata), Namatherium Pickford, Senut, Morales, Mein & Sanchez, 2008 from the middle Eocene of Namibia". Geodiversitas. 47 (8): 343–368. 2025.
- ^ "New data on the earliest known arsinoitheriid embrithopod (Mammalia, Paenungulata), Namatherium Pickford, Senut, Morales, Mein & Sanchez, 2008 from the middle Eocene of Namibia". Geodiversitas. 47 (8): 343–368. 2025.
- ^ a b Vialle, Nicolas; Merzeraud, Gilles; Delmer, Cyrille; Feist, Monique; Jiquel, Suzanne; Marivaux, Laurent; Ramdarshan, Anusha; Vianey-Liaud, Monique; Essid, El Mabrouk; Marzougui, Wissem; Ammar, Hayet Khayati; Tabuce, Rodolphe (2013-11-01). "Discovery of an embrithopod mammal (Arsinoitherium?) in the late Eocene of Tunisia". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 87: 86–92. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2013.07.010. ISSN 1464-343X.
External links
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