Megalovis
Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Lower Pleistocene
Endocranial fossil of Megalovis latifrons
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Bovidae
Subfamily: Caprinae
Tribe: Ovibovini
Genus: †Megalovis
Schaub, 1923[1]
Type species
†Megalovis latifrons
Schaub, 1923
Species
  • M. balcanicus
  • M. guangxiensis
  • M. latifrons
  • M. piveteaui?
  • M. wimani?

Megalovis is an extinct genus of bovid that lived in Eurasia during the Plio-Pleistocene.[2]

Taxonomy

Megalovis is typically considered a member of the subtribe Ovibovina of the Caprini tribe within the Antilopinae subfamily, which includes the living musk-ox. However, certain cranial characteristics like the teeth and horns are more similar to goats in the subtribe Caprina.[2] Three to five species are recognized including M. latifrons, the (type species) from Central and Southern Europe, the recently discovered M. balcanicus from the Balkans and M. guangxiensis from China.[3][4] Megalovis survived until the end of Villafranchian, approximately 1 million years ago.[5]

Description

Megalovis was a large animal, resembling a musk-ox in general morphology and weighing around half a ton.

However, its skull and horns more resembled that of a typical goat or sheep. It horns were short, with a circular section at the base. The horns curved upwards and slightly back. Its dentition was hypsodont, indicating it was a grazer.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Megalovis". Biolib.
  2. 1 2 Schaub, S. (1937). "Ein neuer Cavicornier aus dem Oberpliocaen von Honan". Bulletin of the Geological Institutions of the University of Uppsala. 27: 25–31.
  3. ↑ Crégut-Bonnoure, E.; Dimitrijević, V. (2006). "Megalovis balcanicus sp. nov. and Soergelia intermedia sp. nov. (Mammalia, Bovidae, Caprinae), new Ovibovini from the Early Pleistocene of Europe". Revue de Paléobiologie. 25 (2): 723–773.
  4. ↑ Huang, W. (1988). "First discovery of Megalovis guangxiensis and Alligator cf. sinensis in Guangdong". PalAsian Vertebrata. 26 (3): 227–231.
  5. ↑ Sparassov, N. (2003). "The Plio-Pleistocene faun in South-Eastern Europe and the megafaunal migratory waves from the east to Europe". Revue de Paléobiologie. 22 (1): 197–229.
  6. ↑ Agustí, Jordi; Antón, Mauricio (2002). Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press. p. 221. ISBN 9780231116411.
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