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| Prolicaphrium | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | †Litopterna |
| Family: | †Proterotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Proterotheriinae |
| Genus: | †Prolicaphrium Ameghino 1902 |
| Type species | |
| †Prolicaphrium specillatum Ameghino, 1902 | |
| Species | |
| |
Prolicaphrium is an extinctgenus ofproterotheriidlitoptern that lived during the Early Miocene, in what is nowArgentina. Fossils have been found in theSarmiento Formation of Argentina.
This animal may have been vaguely similar to a smallhorse, and, even if it is only known from incomplete fossils, it is possible to hypothesize on its appearance thanks to the comparison with its better-known relatives, such asThoatherium,Proterotherium andDiadiaphorus. Compared to the latter,Prolicaphrium was more basal, especially regarding itsmolars : the six primary denticles were well developed and independent. The last molar had a reduced posterior lobe both in its external and internal parts.Prolicaphrium was also characterized by a skull with very elongated nasal bones pointing forward, to the contrary of the previously mentioned genera.[1]
Prolicaphrium is a member of theProterotheriidae, a family of litopterns with a build vaguely evocative of small horses. The genusProlicaphrium was first described in 1902 byFlorentino Ameghino, based on fossil remains from Early Miocene terrains ofPatagonia, and it was considered to belong to an animal ancestral of the also Early Miocene genusLicaphrium (now considered a synonym ofAnisolophus. Ameghino described two species : the type species,Prolicaphrium specillatum, and the better knownP. spectabile.[1]A third species described by Ameghino,P. festinum, was later attributed to a new genus,Licaphrops (a junior synonym ofLambdaconus),[2] whileP. sanalfonensis, initially described in 1997 and coming from the Middle Miocene ofColombia was attributed to the new genusMesolicaphrium.
