Title:
Miocene Sanitheriidae (Suiformes, Mammalia) from Namibia and Kenya: systematic and phylogenetic implications
Author(s):
Publication Year:
2004
Abstract:
Sanitheres are enigmatic small suoids with bunoselenodont cheek teeth and a tendency for complication of the premolars by polycuspy and polycristy. Until a few years ago virtually nothing was known about their anterior dentition, but recent discoveries in Greece, Kenya and Namibia have thrown light on their incisor and canine morphology, and reveals among other things that the canines are highly sexually dimorphic, and the dm/1 is replaced by a p/1. Material from Kipsaraman, Kenya, collected between 1997 and 2003, consists of parts of mandibles and many isolated teeth, including elements of the deciduous dentition, a significant proportion of which are unworn. These new finds confirm the aberrant nature of the sanithere dentition within a suoid framework, and support their classification as a family separate from Suidae and Palaeochoeridae (= Old World Tayassuidae). Keywords: Sanitheriidae, Miocene, Africa, Systematics, Phylogeny.
Publication Title:
Annales de Paléontologie
Volume:
90
Issue:
4
Pages:
223-278
Item Type:
Journal Article
Language:
en