Content deleted Content added
i |
|||
Line 255:
}}
During the [[First World War]], German [[geologist]] [[Erich Kaiser (geologist)|Erich Kaiser]] led the first paleontological expedition into the Cenozoic diamond-bearing beds of [[German South West Africa]], in modern day [[Namibia]]. Subsequent researches on the area were led by [[Werner Beetz]] under Kaiser's directions. Remains coming from three distinct localities were uncovered during these expeditions and were assembled in three collections, to which [[Ernst Stromer]], well-versed in African palaeontology and geology, was given access for further studies. In 1926, Stromer published the result of these studies. Among the heavily worn fossil remains collected by Beetz in the [[Langental]] locality, in the heart of the [[Sperrgebiet]], between the [[Bogenfels]] and [[Pomona, Namibia|Pomona]] mining settlements, still in activity at the time, were a left [[maxilla]] and a single fragmentary tooth tip probably belonging to the same individual. Stromer determined that it belonged to an immature individual belonging to a new genus, short-snouted and substantially larger than any modern hyraxes, that he named ''Prohyrax tertiarius''.<ref name=Stromer1926>{{cite journal|first1=E.|last1=Stromer|title=Reste Land- und Süsswasser-Bewohnender wirbeltiere aus den Diamantfeldern Deutsch-Südwestafrikas|date=1926|journal=Die Diamantenwüste Südwest-Afrikas|volume=2|pages=107-153}}</ref> These remains were destroyed, like many others, during the widespread destructions of the [[Second World War]] ; however, casts survived.<ref name=Pickford1997>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|first2=S.|last2=Moyà-Solà|first3=P.|last3=Mein|title=A revised phylogeny of Hyracoidea (Mammalia) based on new specimens of Pliohyracidae from Africa and Europe|date=1997|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie|volume=205(2)|pages=265-288}}</ref> In 1954, [[Thomas Whitworth]] tentatively assigned the genus as an early-diverging member of the subfamily [[Saghatheriinae]], along with ''[[Saghatherium]]'' and ''[[Meroehyrax]]''.<ref name=Whitworth1954>{{cite journal|first1=T.|last1=Whitworth|title=The Miocene Hyracoids of East Africa with some observations on the order Hyracoidea|date=1954|journal=Fossil mammals of Africa|volume=7|pages=1-59}}</ref> In 1956, [[Charles S. Churcher]] speculated that ''P. tertiarius'' was a direct ancestor of the extant genus ''[[Procavia]]'', based on the similarities of its dentition with that of the extinct ''[[P. transvaalensis]]'' of similar age, and proposed to assign the species to the modern genus, as ''Procavia tertiaria''.<ref name=Churcher1956>{{cite journal|first1=C.S.|last1=Churcher|title=The fossil Hyracoidea of the Transvaal and Taungs deposits|date=1956|journal=Annals of the Transvaal Museum|volume=22(4)|pages=478-501}}</ref>
In 1972, [[Cary T. Madden]] reported the presence of remains tentatively assigned to ''P. tertiarius'' among Late Miocene-aged fossils collected in 1948 at [[Muruarot Hill]], near [[Lake Turkana]], in [[Kenya]] during a field expedition from the [[University of California]] led by [[H. Basil S. Cooke]].<ref name=Madden1972>{{cite journal|first1=C.T.|last1=Madden|title=Miocene mammals, stratigraphy and environment of Muruarot Hill, Kenya|date=1972|journal=Paleobios|volume=14|pages=1-12}}</ref> In 1973, [[R. J. G. Savage]] and [[William Roger Hamilton]] reported the presence of the genera in Miocene deposits of the [[Gebel Zelten]] locality.<ref name=Savage1973>{{cite journal|first1=R.J.G.|last1=Savage|first2=W.R.|last2=Hamilton|title=Introduction to the Miocene mammal faunas of Gebel Zelten, Libya|date=1973|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Geology|volume=22(8)|pages=513-527}}</ref>
In 1978, [[Grant E. Meyer]] recovered it as belonging to the family [[Procaviidae]], being potentially closely related with extant hyraxes. He referred to the genus a specimen collected by [[Bryan Patterson]] in 1964 in Early Miocene deposits of the [[Turkana Grits]] near [[Loperot]], and noted that [[William Roger Hamilton]] reported the presence of the genus in [[Gebel Zelten]], in [[Cyrenaica]]. While Meyer believed that those specimens and that reported in 1972 by Madden in Muruarot likely represented at least a new species, the lack of overlapping material and the fragmentary nature of the type species limiting further speculation.<ref name=Meyer1978>{{cite book |last=Meyer|first=G.E.|date=1978|editor-last1=Maglio|editor-first1=V.J.|editor-last2=Cooke|editor-first2=H.B.S.|title=Evolution of African Mammals|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=284-314|chapter=Hyracoidea|isbn=}}</ref>
Around 1976, numerous hyracoid remains were collected in the Miocene-aged [[Arrisdrift]] locality, near [[Oranjemund]], in the [[ǁKaras Region]] of [[Namibia]]. These specimens, including a relatively complete skull, numerous fragmentary maxilla, mandibles, isolated teeth, limb bones, belonging to all sexes and ages, were described in 1994 by [[Martin Pickford]] and assigned to a new species of ''Prohyrax'', ''P. hendeyi''. He also refered a fragmentary juvenile maxilla from Langental to ''P. tertiarius''.<ref name=Pickford1994>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|title=A new species of Prohyrax (Mammalia, Hyracoidea) from the middle Miocene of Arrisdrift, Namibia|date=1994|journal=Communications of the Geological Survey of Namibia|volume=9|pages=43-62}}</ref><ref name=Pickford1996>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|first2=B.|last2=Senut|first3=P.|last3=Mein|first4=D.|last4=Gommery|first5=J.|last5=Morales|first6=D.|last6=Soria|first7=M.|last7=Nieto|first8=J.|last8=Ward|title=Prelimînary results of new excavations at Arrisdrift, middle Miocène of southern Namibia|date=1996|journal=Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris|volume=322|pages=991-996}}</ref> In 1995, Pickford ''et al.'' reported the presence of ''Prohyrax'' sp. in the early Miocene AM 02 quarry of the [[Auchas]] locality, in southern [[Namibia]].<ref name=Pickford1995>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|first2=B.|last2=Senut|first3=P.|last3=Mein|first4=J.|last4=Morales|first5=D.|last5=Soria|first6=M.|last6=Nieto|first7=J.|last7=Ward|first8=M.|last8=Bamford|title=The discovery of lower and middle Miocene vertebrates at Auchas, southern Namibia|date=1995|journal=Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris|volume=322|pages=901-906}}</ref> The following year, Pickford described teeth from the Middle Miocene [[Berg Aukas]] locality in northern Namibia that he tentatively referred to ''Prohyrax'' or ''[[Parapliohyrax]]''.
In 1996, [[Jan van der Made]] assigned a mandible of large hyracoid, collected in the Miocene [[Melabes|Melambes]] locality of the [[Pandánassa Formation]] in [[Crete]], and initially considered in 1973 by [[Siegfried E. Kuss]] as a new species belonging to the genus ''[[Pliohyrax]]''<ref name=Kuss1976>{{cite journal|first1=S.E.|last1=Kuss|title=Ein erster Fund von Pliohyrax aus dem Vallesian von Kreta/Griechenland|date=1976|journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie|volume=1|pages=1-64}}</ref>, to cf. ''P. hendeyi''.<ref name=vanderMade1996>{{cite book |last1=van der Made|first1=J.|date=1996|editor-last1=Reese|editor-first1=D.S.|title=Pleistocene and Holocene Fauna of Crete and Its First Settlers|publisher=Prehistory Press|pages=70-79|chapter=6 - Pre-Pleistocene Land Mammals from Crete|isbn=}}</ref>
In 1997, Pickford, [[Salvador Moyà-Solà]] and [[Pierre Mein]] described additional remains attributed to ''P. tertiarius'', including several maxilla, mandibles and isolated teeth from Langental and [[Elizabethfeld]]. The authors noticed the great similarities with those of ''P. hendeyi'', the only difference being the size. This additional material was instrumental to resolve its affinities with ''[[Meroehyrax]]'' and with modern [[Procaviidae]].<ref name=Pickford1997/>
In 2003, Pickford mentionned in passing that the specimen from Berg Aukas tentatively assigned to the genus belonged to its larger relative ''Parapliohyrax ngororaensis'', and estimated the size and weight of ''P. hendeyi''.<ref name=Pickford2003>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|title=Giant dassie (Hyracoidea, Mammalia) from the Middle Miocene of South Africa|date=2003|journal=South African Journal of Science|volume=99|issue=7|pages=366–367}}</ref> In 2006, Pickford constated that the attribution of hyracoid remains from Gebel Zelten to the genus were unsubstantiated.<ref name=Pickford2006>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|title=Giant hyracoid from basal Middle Miocene deposits at Gebel Zelten, Libya|date=2006|journal=Estudios Geológicos|volume=62|issue=1|pages=495–498}}</ref> In 2008, Pickford described additional material attributed to ''P. tertiarius'' found in the Northern Sperrgebiet, including several cranial remains from Langental, cranial and postcranial material from Elizabethfeld, and an isolated [[humerus]] from [[Grillental]] ; these new remains helped Pickford to confirm that, contrarily to Churcher's thesis, ''Prohyrax'' was not the direct ancestor of the modern ''Procavia''.<ref name=Pickford>{{cite journal|first1=M.|last1=Pickford|title=Hyracoidea from the Early Miocene of the Northern Sperrgebiet, Namibia|date=2008|journal=Memoir of the Geological Survey of Namibia|volume=20|pages=315-325}}</ref>
=Thyrohyrax=
| |||