Article: A new species of the hyracoid mammal Titanohyrax from the Eocene of Tunisia
Publication: Palaeontology
Volume:
35
Part:
2
Publication Date:
June
1992
Page(s):
309
–
317
Author(s):
Nicholas Court and Jean-Louis Hartenberger
Abstract
Dental remains of a new hyracoid mammal, Titanohyrax tantulus sp. nov., are described from Eocene deposits at Chambi in Tunisia. This new form is one of very few Palaeogene hyracoid occurrences outside the Early Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt. Very small size and low crown height reflect the primitive nature of the new species relative to other members of the genus. The Chambi rodent fauna and data from charophytes provisionally indicate an early Eocene age for the locality. T. tantulus is thus potentially the oldest known representative of the order Hyracoidea.