Gobiatherium

Go-bee-ah-fee-ree-um.
Published on

Harper Gray

Paleoartist

Harper Grey combines artistic talent with scientific precision to bring extinct creatures and environments back to life. Collaborating closely with paleontologists

Cite Feedback Print

Name

Gobiatherium ‭(‬Gobi beast‭ ‬-‭ ‬after the Gobi Desert‭)‬.

Phonetic

Go-bee-ah-fee-ree-um.

Named By

Henry Fairfield Osborn‭ & ‬Walter W.‭ ‬Granger‭ ‬-‭ ‬1932.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Dinocerata,‭ ‬Uintatheriidae,‭ ‬Gobiatheriinae.

Diet

Herbivore.

Species

G.‭ ‬mirificum‭

Size

Estimated up to‭ ‬3‭ ‬meters long for largest specimens.

Known locations

Asia.

Time Period

Lutetian through to Priabonian of the Eocene.

Fossil representation

Several specimens.

In Depth

       Gobiatherium is the type genus of its own specific group of uintatheres,‭ ‬the Gobiatheriinae.‭ ‬This is because Gobiatherium lacks the skull horns and tusks that are common features in it relatives,‭ ‬though Gobiatherium still retains some distinguishing characteristics of its own.‭ ‬These include well developed cheek bones and an expanded nasal area where the bones rise up into a form of snout crest,‭ ‬something that might have been a support for a specialised growth of soft tissue.‭ ‬Gobiatherium possibly shared its habitat with pantodont mammals like Hypercoryphodon.

Further Reading

Further reading- Coryphodonts and uintatheres from the Mongolian expedition of 1930. – American Museum Novitates 552:1-16. – H. F. Osborn & W. Granger – 1932.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT