Hydaspitherium is an extinct genus of giraffid artiodactyls that lived during the Cenozoic era during the Miocene epoch to the Pliocene epoch in Pakistan.[2][3] Giraffids are represented in the late Miocene epoch of the Siwaliks by large Sivatheriinae such as Sivatherium, Bramatherium, Helladotherium, and Hydaspitherium. Hydaspitherium has been proposed to be synonymous with Bramatherium. H. megacephalum is restricted to the Dhok Pathan Formation (33°36′N 72°30′E / 33.6°N 72.5°E, paleocoordinates 30°54′N 73°54′E / 30.9°N 73.9°E)[4] in northern Pakistan.[5]
| Hydaspitherium Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Giraffidae |
| Genus: | †Hydaspitherium Lydekker 1878 |
| Species | |
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H. megacephalum | |
| Synonyms | |
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Hydaspidotherium[1] | |
Species edit
Four separate species of Hydaspitherium were described more than a century ago, but Bhatti, Khan & Akhtar 2012 concluded that their differences can be explained as sexual dimorphism and intraspecific variability: H. birmanicum (Pilgrim 1910) is based on a single right upper molar. H. grande (Lydekker 1878) and H. magnum (Pilgrim 1910) are only slightly larger than H. megacephalum and the variation in dentition does not support separate taxa. Bhatti et al. 2012 accepted two species in the Siwaliks: the smaller H. megacephalum and the larger H. grande until more material has been collected.[6]
Notes edit
- ^ "Genus Hydaspidotherium". The Taxonomicon. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ Hydaspitherium in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
- ^ Dhok Pathan Stratotype Fauna in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ Bhatti, Khan & Akhtar 2012, Introduction
- ^ Bhatti, Khan & Akhtar 2012, p. 807
References edit
- Bhatti, Z. H.; Khan, M. A.; Akhtar, M. (June 2012). "Hydaspitherium (Artiodactyla: Giraffidae) from the Dhok Pathan Formation of the Middle Siwaliks, Pakistan: New Collection" (PDF). Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 44 (3): 799–808. OCLC 798111718. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- Lydekker, R. (1878). "Indian tertiary and post-tertiary vertebrate. 3. Crania of ruminants". Palæontologia Indica. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India. 10. 1 (3): 88–181. OCLC 20842760.
- Pilgrim, G. E. (1910). "Notices of new mammalian genera and species from the Tertiaries of India". Records of the Geological Survey of India. 40 (1): 63–71.
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