Tyrrhenotragus

Tyrrhenotragus is an extinct genus of bovid that lived in the Late Miocene of Italy. It contains a single species, Tyrrhenotragus gracillimus. Fossils were of Late Vallesian and Early Turolian age and have been found in Baccinello, which at the time of its existence was an island.^[2] T. gracillimus has features that are suggestive of an insular animal adapted to island existence.

Tyrrhenotragus Temporal range: Late Miocene 10–8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Tyrrhenotragus gracillimus mandible
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Bovidae
Subfamily:	Antilopinae
Genus:	†Tyrrhenotragus Thomas, 1984
Species:	†T. gracillimus
Binomial name
†Tyrrhenotragus gracillimus (Weithofer, 1888)[1]
Synonyms
Antilope gracillima Weithofer, 1888

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1888 as Antilope gracillima. Tyrrhenotragus was traditionally viewed as a member of the tribe Neotragini, which includes pygmy antelope, and was thought to represent a migration of African bovids into southern Europe.^[3] However, some of the features traditionally thought to be derived from shared ancestry with other Neotragini, like small size and short metapodial bones, may have actually evolved independently due to adaptations to an island environment.^[2]

Description

Tyrrhenotragus was a very small species of antelope. In addition to small size, it developed other features associated with insular bovids such as ever-growing hypsodont incisors and shortened limbs.^[4] Such features are also seen in the more recent Myotragus (Balearic Island goat).

See also

• Eumaiochoerus
• Oreopithecus

References

1. "Tyrrhenotragus". Fossilworks.
2. Henke, Winfried; Tattersall, Ian (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology: Vol I:Principles, Methods and Approaches Vol II:Primate Evolution and Human Origins Vol III:Phylogeny of Hominids. Springer. p. 1002.
3. Harrison, Terry (2013). Neogene Paleontology of the Manonga Valley, Tanzania: A Window Into the Evolutionary History of East Africa. Springer US. p. 131. ISBN 9781475726831.
4. Franzen, Jens Lorenz (2003). Walking Upright: Results of the 13th International Senckenberg Conference at the Werner Reimers Foundation, Bad Homburg V. D. H., and at the Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt Am Main, October 5-9, 1999. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. pp. 113–114.