A new skull of Decennatherium rex Ríos, Sánchez and Morales, 2017 from Batallones-4 (upper Vallesian, MN10, Madrid, Spain)
Giraffids are pecoran ruminants with bi-lobed canines and a special type of cranial appendage called ossicones, which are epiphyseal in origin and don’t fuse completely to the skull until later in life. Although the family Giraffidae has only two extant living African genera, in the past this family...
| Autores: | , |
|---|---|
| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2019 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/223715 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/223715 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Giraffidae Artiodactyla Ruminantia Miocene Cerro de los Batallones |
| Sumario: | Giraffids are pecoran ruminants with bi-lobed canines and a special type of cranial appendage called ossicones, which are epiphyseal in origin and don’t fuse completely to the skull until later in life. Although the family Giraffidae has only two extant living African genera, in the past this family was much more diverse and widespread. Today we can recognize more than 40 fossil species, from multiple sites in Eurasia and Africa, which range from the early Miocene (20 m.y.) until today. Here we describe the exceptionally well-preserved remains of the giraffid found in the late Miocene deposits of Batallones-4 (upper Vallesian, MN10, Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain). Batallones- 4 is part of the Cerro de los Batallones fossil site complex, and although it was excavated during the year 2000 there is no published result. The specimen from Batallones-4 has been identified as an old male of Decennatherium rex first identified from Batallones- 10 as they share key morphological cranial similarities. This new skull helps us to better understand this species cranial anatomy, as well as its morphological development and variability. |
|---|