Palaeotragus

Palaeotragus Temporal range:
A pair of Palaeotragus mounts at the Tianjin Natural History Museum.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Genus:	†Palaeotragus Gaudry 1861
Species
P. primaevus P. germaini P. microdon P. decipiens P. quadricornis P. rouenii

Palaeotragus ("ancient goat") is a genus of very large, primitive, okapi-like giraffid from the Miocene of Africa, Eurasia.

P. microdon fossil

Palaeotragus primaevus is the older species, being found in early to mid-Miocene strata, while Palaeotragus 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.

Further reading

• Gaudry, Albert (1861). "Paléontologie. — Résultats des fouilles entreprises en Grèce sous les auspices de l'Académie". Comptes-rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. Vol. 53. Paris. p. 239. OCLC 469002103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)