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Megalovis

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Extinct genus of mammal

Megalovis
Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Lower Pleistocene 3–1 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
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
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.

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. 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. Megalovis survived until the end of Villafranchian, approximately 1 million years ago.

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.

References

  1. "Megalovis". Biolib.
  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.
Taxon identifiers
Megalovis
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