Merycopotamus Explained

Merycopotamus is an extinct genus of Asian anthracothere that appeared during the Middle Miocene, and died out in the Late Pliocene. At the height of the genus' influence, species ranged throughout South Asia.^[1] With the extinction of the last species, M. dissimilis, the lineage of anthracotheres came to an end. Merycopotamus was closely related to the anthracothere genus Libycosaurus, which, unlike the former, never left Africa.^[2] In fact, some African fossils originally placed in Merycopotamus, but are now referred to Libycosaurus.^{[1] [3]}

Notes and References

1. Lihoreau, F. . J. Barry . C. Blondel . Y. Chiamanee . J.-J. Jaeger . M. Brunet . 2007 . Anatomical revision of the genus Merycopotamus (Artiodactyla; Anthracotheriidae): its significance for late Miocene mammal dispersal in Asia . Palaeontology . 50 . 2 . 503–524 . 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00643.x . 129663125 . free .
2. Lihoreau, Fabrice . Jean-Renaud Boisserie . etal . amp . Anthracothere dental anatomy reveals a late Miocene Chado-Libyan bioprovince . . originally published online May 24, 2006 . 10.1073/pnas.0603126103 . 16723392 . 2006 . 103 . 8763–7 . 1482652. 2006PNAS..103.8763L . free .
3. Pickford, Martin . Sexual and individual morphometric variation in Libycosaurus (Mammalia, Anthracotheriidae) from the Maghreb and Libya . Geobios . 39 . 2 . 267–310 . 10.1016/j.geobios.2004.06.006 . 2006.