Palaeotragus

Extinct genus of mammals

Palaeotragus Temporal range: Miocene–Early Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N

Skeletal mount, Tianjin Natural History Museum
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Genus:	†Palaeotragus ^[1]
Type species
†Palaeotragus rouenii Gaudry, 1861
Species
†P. inexspectatus (Samson & Radulesco, 1966) †P. microdon †P. coelophrys †P. berislavicus

Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffids from the Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Africa and Eurasia.

Palaeotragus primaevus is the older species, being found in early to mid-Miocene strata, while P. germaini is found in Late Miocene strata. P. primaevus is distinguished from P. germaini by the lack of ossicones. It was also the smaller species, being a little under 2 m (6 ft 7 in) at the shoulders. P. germaini had a pair of ossicones, and in life, it would have resembled either a short-necked, 3 m (9.8 ft) tall giraffe, or a gargantuan okapi.

Palaeotragus inexspectatus from the Early Pleistocene of Greece represents the youngest giraffid in Europe.^[2]

Species

The genus consists of the following species:

Palaeotragus decipiens
Palaeotragus germaini
Palaeotragus microdon
Palaeotragus primaevus
Palaeotragus quadricornis
Palaeotragus. rouenii

References

^ ^a ^b Gaudry 1861
^ Laskos, Kostantis; Kostopoulos, Dimitris S (2024-05-17). "On the last European giraffe, Palaeotragus inexspectatus (Mammalia: Giraffidae); new remains from the Early Pleistocene of Greece and a review of the species". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae056. ISSN 0024-4082.