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New stem giraffoid ruminants from the early and middle Miocene of Namibia

Jorge MORALES, Dolores SORIA & Martin PICKFORD

en Geodiversitas 21 (2) - Pages 229-253

Published on 24 June 1999

At the early and middle Miocene localities of Sperrgebiet, Namibia, new material of Climacoceratid ruminants have been collected recently. From Elisabethfeld we describe new material belonging to Propalaeoryx austroafricanus Stromer, 1926, together with a new genus and species of climacoceratid Sperrgebietomeryx wardi n. gen., n. sp., a species without frontal appendages close to Propalaeoryx and to primitive early Miocene European ruminants such as Andegameryx. From the locality of Arrisdrift we define another new genus and species of climacoceratid with frontal appendages, Orangemeryx hendey n. gen., n. sp., characterized by its complex tined frontal apophyses. Comparison of the dentition and postcranial skeleton of this genus and those of Sperrgebietomeryx suggests a close phylogenetic relationships between them.


Keywords:

Ruminantia, Giraffoidea, Climacoceratidae, Miocene, Namibia

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