Palaeotragus

Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffids from the Miocene to Early Pleistocene of Africa and Eurasia.

Palaeotragus Temporal range: Miocene–Early Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skeletal mount, Tianjin Natural History Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Genus:	†Palaeotragus [1]
Type species
†Palaeotragus rouenii Gaudry, 1861
Species
†P. inexspectatus (Samson & Radulesco, 1966) †P. microdon †P. coelophrys †P. berislavicus

Palaeotragus primaevus is the older species, being found in early to mid-Miocene strata, while P. germaini is found in Late Miocene strata. P. primaevus is distinguished from P. germaini by the lack of ossicones. It was also the smaller species, being a little under 2 m (6 ft 7 in) at the shoulders. P. germaini had a pair of ossicones, and in life, it would have resembled either a short-necked, 3 m (9.8 ft) tall giraffe, or a gargantuan okapi.

Palaeotragus inexspectatus from the Early Pleistocene of Greece represents the youngest giraffid in Europe.^[2]

Species

P. microdon fossil

The genus consists of the following species:

• Palaeotragus decipiens
• Palaeotragus germaini
• Palaeotragus inexspectatus
• Palaeotragus microdon
• Palaeotragus primaevus
• Palaeotragus quadricornis
• Palaeotragus. rouenii