New Moeritherium material from the Fayum area, Egypt | ||||
Egyptian Journal of Geology | ||||
Volume 68, Issue 1, 2024, Page 47-56 PDF (994.14 K) | ||||
Document Type: Original Article | ||||
DOI: 10.21608/egjg.2024.259489.1067 | ||||
View on SCiNiTO | ||||
Authors | ||||
Andrew Rafaat Adly 1; Martin Pickford2; Afifi Sileem3; Mohamed AbdelGawad 4; Manal Mekawy5 | ||||
1Geology, Science, Suez canal university, Ismailia, Egypt | ||||
2Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris (CR2P) Muséum national dʼHistoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, CP38, 8 rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France | ||||
3Egyptian Geological Museum, Cairo, Egypt | ||||
4Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt | ||||
5Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt | ||||
Abstract | ||||
The Fayum province, northeastern Desert Egypt, is considered to be one of the best localities in Africa for studying Eocene – Oligocene vertebrate evolution. It is the richest site for Moeritherium, which consists of extensive cranial and postcranial remains. Moeritherium is an extinct genus of primitive mammals that represents an early stage in the evolution of elephants. The anterior incisors were strongly developed in the upper and lower jaws, representing a stage in the development of the familiar elephant tusks. The Upper Palaeogene succession in the Fayum Province consists of nearshore marine and fluvial Upper Eocene Qasr El Sagha Formation overlain by fluvial Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation and Widan El Faras Basalt. This study focuses on a new specimen of Moeritherium from the Fayum depression. During the Eocene, Moeritherium has been reported from Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Mali, Senegal, Ethiopia, and Oman. During the Oligocene, they were reported from Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Angola. The appearance and disappearance of Moeritherium in Egypt or even Africa is still a big puzzle. | ||||
Keywords | ||||
Moeritherium; Eocene; Oligocene; Fayum | ||||
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