Megalochoerus
| Megalochoerus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Suidae |
| Tribe: | †Kubanochoerini |
| Genus: | †Megalochoerus Pickford, 1993 |
| Type species | |
| †Megalochoerus humungous Pickford, 1993
| |
| Species | |
| |
Megalochoerus is an extinct genus of large and long-legged suids from the Miocene of Africa and parts of Asia.[1][2][3] The genus first appeared in the Early Miocene with the species M. khizikebirus.[3] It was thought to have been a herbivore with a diet mainly consisting of fruits, leafy branches, and tree barks.[4]
Taxonomy
The species M. khinzikebirus and M. marymuunguae were once considered to belong to the related Kubanochoerus or Libycochoerus, but have since been reassigned to Megalochoerus.[5] However, some experts over the recent years have reclassified M. khinzikebirus and M. marymuunguae as an African species of Kubanochoerus.[3][6] M. homungous is considered synomous to Kubanochoerus mancharensis,[7] with some experts favoring Kubanochoerus mancharensis over M. homungous.[3][6]
Megalochoerus marymuuguae was the smallest and earliest of the three species, while M. homungous was the latest occurring and largest.[8]
Description
Megalochoerus contained some of the largest suids ever known to exist. Pickford & Morales (2003) originally compared the size of M. khinzikebirus, intermediate between the other two species, to a hippopotamus, with M. homungous, the largest species of the genus, being even larger, as big as a gomphothere.[9] Pickford (2006) estimated that based on dental morphology, the weight of M. khinzikebirus was originally estimated to have been as high as 1,104 kg (2,434 lb). However, the dimensions of its distal humerus indicate that it was considerably smaller. As the articulation of the distal humeral in this species was 60 mm, compared to 40 mm in modern wild boars, upscaling from the latter results in mass estimates of 303–675 kg (668–1,488 lb) when using the average and max weight of wild boars respectively.[4]
Paleobiology
Diet
Kubanochoeres, including Megalochoerus, were considered to have been herbivorous.[3][10][4][a] Pickford (2006) noted that the bunodont nature of the cheek dentition of Megalochoerus was similar to that of gomphotheres, suggesting Megalochoerus had a diet that consisted of fruits, leafy branches, and tree barks but avoided grasses and underground resources.[4] Carbon isotopic analysis within Buluk, Kenya, suggested M. marymuunguae either selected plants or plant parts that were enriched with 13C or foraged in more open canopy.[10]
Notes
- ^ Pickford (2006) referred Megalochoerus as a omnivore, however this was likely an error on their behalf as they noted the similarities of the dentition of Megalochoerus and gomphotheres
References
- ^ Pickford, Martin. 1993. Old world suoid systematics, phylogeny, biogeography, and biostratigraphy. Paleontologia i Evolució. 26-27: 237-269.
- ^ M. Pickford. 2007. Suidae and hippopotamidae from the Middle Miocene of Kipsaraman, Kenya and other sites in East Africa. Palaeontological Research 11(1):85-105
- ^ a b c d e Hou, Sukuan; Zhang, Yuan (2023). "A biostratigraphic and palaeoecological study of Late Cenozoic kubanochoeres from the Linxia Basin, Gansu Province, China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 623. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111633.
- ^ a b c d Pickford, M. (2006). "New suoid specimens from Gebel Zelten, Libya". Estudios Geológicos. 62 (1). doi:10.3989/egeol.0662147.
- ^ Bishop LC (2010) Suoidea. In: Werdelin L, Sanders WJ, editors. Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 821–842.
- ^ a b van der Made, J.; Choudhary, D.; Singh, N.P.; et al. (2022). "Listriodon dukkar sp. nov. (Suidae, Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Pasuda (Gujarat, India): the decline and extinction of the Listriodontinae". PalZ. 96: 355–383. doi:10.1007/s12542-022-00606-w. hdl:10261/267599.
- ^ Pickford, Martin (2001). "Intérêt biochronologique des Kubanochoerinae (Mammalia, Suidae) et étude de nouveaux restes de Megalochoerus khinzikebirus et Libycochoerus massai du Kenya". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences - Series IIA - Earth and Planetary Science. 332 (3): 193–200. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(01)01513-0.
- ^ Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 830. ISBN 9780520257214.
- ^ Pickford M. & Morales J. (2003). — New Listriodontinae (Mammalia, Suidae) from Europe and a review of listriodont evolution, biostratigraphy and biogeography. Geodiversitas. 25 (2) : 347-404.
- ^ a b Arney, Irisa; Locke, Ellis M.; Miller, Ellen R.; Nengo, Isaiah O. (2024). "Stable isotope (ẟ13C, ẟ18O) paleoecology of the late Early Miocene mammalian fauna from Buluk, Kenya". Palaeontologia Electronica. doi:10.26879/1335.