Prolicaphrium

Prolicaphrium; Temporal range: Early Miocene (Colhuehuapian) ; ~
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Litopterna
Family:	†Proterotheriidae
Subfamily:	†Proterotheriinae
Genus:	†Prolicaphrium; Ameghino 1902
Type species
	†Prolicaphrium specillatum; Ameghino, 1902
Species
	P. specillatum Ameghino 1902 ; P. spectabile Ameghino 1902 ;

Prolicaphrium is an extinct genus of proterotheriid litoptern that lived during the Early Miocene, in what is now Argentina. Fossils have been found in the Sarmiento Formation of Argentina.

Description

This animal may have been vaguely similar to a small horse, and, even if it is only known from incomplete fossils, it is possible to hypothesize on its appearance thanks to the comparison with its better-known relatives, such as Thoatherium, Proterotherium and Diadiaphorus. Compared to the latter, Prolicaphrium was more basal, especially regarding its molars : the six primary denticles were well developed and independent. The last molar had a reduced posterior lobe both in its external and internal parts. Prolicaphrium was also characterized by a skull with very elongated nasal bones pointing forward, to the contrary of the previously mentioned genera.[1]

Classification

Prolicaphrium is a member of the Proterotheriidae, a family of litopterns with a build vaguely evocative of small horses. The genus Prolicaphrium was first described in 1902 by Florentino Ameghino, based on fossil remains from Early Miocene terrains of Patagonia, and it was considered to belong to an animal ancestral of the also Early Miocene genus Licaphrium (now considered a synonym of Anisolophus. Ameghino described two species : the type species, Prolicaphrium specillatum, and the better known P. spectabile.[1]A third species described by Ameghino, P. festinum, was later attributed to a new genus, Licaphrops (a junior synonym of Lambdaconus),[2] while P. sanalfonensis, initially described in 1997 and coming from the Middle Miocene of Colombia was attributed to the new genus Mesolicaphrium.

References

Ameghino, Florentino (1902). "Première contribution a la connaissance de la faune mammalogique des couches a Colpodon". Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba, República Argentina. 17: 71–141. ISSN 0325-2051.
Vera, Bárbara Soledad; Fornasiero, Mariagabriella; Del Favero, Letizia (December 2015). "The Egidio Feruglio's collection in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Padova: its importance to the knowledge of Cenozoic mammals from South America". Museologia Scientifica. 9: 35–44. ISSN 1123-265X.

R. L. Cifelli and J. Guerrero Diaz. 1997. Litopterns. Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics. The Miocene fauna of La Venta, Colombia 289–302
Andrew J. McGrath; Federico Anaya; Darin A. Croft (2020). "New proterotheriids from the middle Miocene of Quebrada Honda, Bolivia, and body size and diversity trends in proterotheriid and macraucheniid litopterns (Mammalia)". Ameghiniana. in press. doi:10.5710/AMGH.03.03.2020.3268.

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[Ameghino1902-1] Ameghino, Florentino (1902). "Première contribution a la connaissance de la faune mammalogique des couches a Colpodon". Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Córdoba, República Argentina. 17: 71–141. ISSN 0325-2051.

[Veraetal2015-2] Vera, Bárbara Soledad; Fornasiero, Mariagabriella; Del Favero, Letizia (December 2015). "The Egidio Feruglio's collection in the Museum of Geology and Palaeontology of the University of Padova: its importance to the knowledge of Cenozoic mammals from South America". Museologia Scientifica. 9: 35–44. ISSN 1123-265X.