Anisolophus is an extinct genus of proterotheriid from the Early to Middle Miocene of Argentina. The genus was named by Burmeister in 1885 to accommodate the species Anchitherium australe, which they had named earlier in 1879. Soria then referred the species Licaphrium floweri and Anisolophus minisculus to the genus, making Licaphrium, named in 1887 by Florentino Ameghino, a junior synonym of the genus. Both A. australis and A. floweri are known from the Santacrucian age Santa Cruz Formation, while A. minisculus is known from the Collón Curá Formation.[2]

Anisolophus
Temporal range: Early Miocene-Middle Miocene (Santacrucian-Colloncuran)
~17.5–15.5 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Litopterna
Family: Proterotheriidae
Subfamily: Proterotheriinae
Genus: Anisolophus
Burmeister, 1885
Type species
Anchitherium australe
Species
  • Anisolophus australis
    (Burmeister, 1879)
  • Anisolophus floweri
    (Ameghino, 1887)
  • Anisolophus minisculus
    (Roth, 1899)
Synonyms[1]
Genus synonymy
  • Licaphrium Ameghino, 1887
A. australis
A. floweri
  • Licaphrium floweri
    Ameghino, 1887
  • Licaphrium granatum
    Ameghino, 1894
  • Licaphrium pyramidatum
    Ameghino, 1904
  • Licaphrium proximum
    Ameghino, 1904
  • Licaphrium pyneanum
    Scott, 1910
A. minisculus
  • Diadiaphorus minisculus
    Roth, 1899
  • Proterotherium dichotomum
    Ameghino, 1904
  • Licaphrops coalescens
    Ameghino, 1904

Anisolophus is considered the senior synonym of the genus Licaphrium, which was named in 1887 by Ameghino for the species L. floweri, now A. floweri. Many other species of Licaphrium were named, many of which are considered synonyms of A. floweri, Tetramerorhinus, Neobrachytherium, or Lophogonodon, as well as the dubious Licaphrium debile, L. arenarum, L. intermissum, L. parvulum. Two invalid species of Anisolophus are known, A. fischeri, and A. acer, which are both dubious and also known as Diaphragmodon fischeri or Heptaconus acer.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Soria, M.F. (2001). Los Proterotheriidae (Litopterna, Mammalia) : sistemática, origen y filogenia. Monografías del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales. pp. 1–167.
  2. ^ Schmidt, G.I.; Hernández Del Pino, S.; Muñoz, N.A.; Fernández, M. (2019). "Litopterna (Mammalia) from the Santa Cruz Formation (Early–Middle Miocene) at the Río Santa Cruz, Southern Argentina". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina. 19 (2): 170–192. doi:10.5710/PEAPA.13.08.2019.290. hdl:11336/121536.