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Showing results for tags 'afrotheria'.
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From the album: My collection in progress
Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach 1799 Location: Hatvan, Heves County, Hungary Age: 2,5 - 0,01 Mya (Pleistocene, Quaternary) Measurements: 7x15,5x14 cm Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Mammalia Subclass: Theria Superorder: Afrotheria Order: Proboscidea Suborder: Elephantiformes Family: Elephantidae -
Regarding the geographic distribution of desmostylians, it's quite ironic that no desmostylians have ever been found in the West Indies or eastern North America or even Africa because DNA studies point to an African origin for all afrotheres and desmostylians themselves are afrotheres (as a matter of fact, a sirenian fossil from the Early Eocene of Tunisia described by Benoit et. al. 2013 is about the same age as the Caribbean forms Prorastomus and Pezosiren, confirming that sirenians did indeed originate in Africa along with other afrothere groups). What would be a possible explanation for the absence of desmostylians from Africa if an African origin of afrotheres implies that Desmostylia originated in Africa? Benoit J, Adnet S, El Mabrouk E, Khayati H, Ben Haj Ali M, et al. (2013) Cranial Remain from Tunisia Provides New Clues for the Origin and Evolution of Sirenia (Mammalia, Afrotheria) in Africa. PLoS ONE 8(1): e54307. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054307
