Kubanochoerus

Kubanochoerus is an extinct genus of large, long-legged suid artiodactyl mammal from the Miocene of Eurasia and Africa.

Kubanochoerus
Temporal range: Miocene
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Mounted skeleton of Kubanochoerus at the Beijing Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Suidae
Tribe: †Kubanochoerini
Genus: †Kubanochoerus
Gabunia 1955
Species
  • K. gigas (Pearson, 1928)
  • K. lantianensis Qiu, Ye, & Huo 1988
  • K. mancharensis Van der Made 1996
  • K. minheensis (Qiu, Li, and Wang, 1981)
  • K. parvus Hou & Deng 2019[1]
  • K. robustus Gabunia 1955 (type)

Taxonomy
K. gigas skull

The genera Libycochoerus and Megalochoerus were once assigned to Kubanochoerus but are now considered distinct based on dental and minor cranial details.[2]

Photo-reconstruction of K. robustus

The putative paraceratheriid genus Caucasotherium, described from the Caucasus on the basis of a bone fragment with four incisors, is actually a synonym of the Middle Miocene Kubanochoerus gigas.[3]

Description
Restoration of K. gigas

The largest species, the aptly named K. gigas, grew to be around 1 metre (3.3 ft) at the shoulder, and probably weighed up to 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) in life.[4] The heads of these pigs were unmistakable, with small eyebrow horns, and a large horn emanating from the forehead of the males. It is speculated that the males used their forehead horns for jousting with each other.

References
  1. Hou & Deng, 2019
  2. Bishop LC (2010) Suoidea. In: Werdelin L, Sanders WJ, editors. Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 821–842.
  3. PICKFORD, M., GABUNIA, L., MEIN, P., MORALES, J. & AZANZA, B. 2000. The Middle Miocene Mammalian site of Belometchetskaya, North Caucasus: an important biostratigraphic link between Europe and China. - Géobios 33 (2): 257-267, Lyon.
  4. Teeth: Kubanochoerus gigas lii (GUAN). tesorosnaturales.es

Bibliography
  • Hou, Su-Kuan, and Tao Deng. 2019. A new species of Kubanochoerus (Suidae, Artiodactyla) from the Linxia Basin, Gansu Province, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica in press(). . .


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