Libycosaurus
Name:
Libycosaurus
(Libya lizard).
Phonetic: Lib-e-co-sore-us.
Named By: G. Bonnarelli - 1947.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia,
Artiodactyla, Anthracotheriidae, Bothriodontinae.
Species: L. petrocchii
(type), L. algeriensis, L. anisae.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Up to, possibly over three meters long.
Known locations: Algeria. Chad. Libya.
Tunisia. Uganda.
Time period: Mid-Late Miocene.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of several
individuals.
The
name Libycosaurus is definitely a misnomer to be
sure. When
Libycosaurus was first named by Bonarelli in 1947
the partial
fossil remains were thought to be those of a dinosaur. It was only
later that it was realised that Libycosaurus was
actually a kind of
prehistoric relative of hippopotamuses. At the time of writing
Libycosaurus is known from three species, L.
algeriensis however is
only known from teeth, and for this reason this species of
Libycosaurus is often treated as dubious.
Libycosaurus
is not the only mammal to have been mistaken for a reptile.
Basilosaurus
for example means ‘king lizard’, even though
Basilosaurus is actually a whale.
Further reading
- Dinosaur fossil Sahara Cyrenaic. - Journal Biology Colonial
Roma, 8: 23-33. - G. Bonnarelli - 1947.
- Anthracothere dental anatomy reveals a late Miocene Chado-Libyan
bioprovince. - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
U.S.A. 103 (23): 8763–7. - Fabrice Lihoreau,
Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Laurent Viriot, Yves Coppens, Andossa
Likius, Hassane Taisso Mackaye, Paul Tafforeau, Patrick Vignaud
& Michel Brunet - 2006.
- Sexual and individual morphometric variation in Libycosaurus
(Mammalia, anthracotheriidae) from the Maghreb and Libya. -
Geobios 39 (2): 267-310. - Martin Pickford - 2006.
- Libycosaurus petrocchii Bonarelli, 1947, and
Libycosaurus
anisae (Black, 1972) (Anthracotheriidae,
Mammalia):
Nomenclatural and geochronological implications [Libycosaurus
petrocchii Bonarelli, 1947, et Libycosaurus anisae (Black,
1972) (Anthracotheriidae, Mammalia) : implications
nomenclaturales et g�ochronologiques]. - Annales de Pal�ontologie
vol 94, issue 1 - Martin Pickford - 2008.
- Metric variation in Afromeryx and Libycosaurus
(anthracotheriidae: Mammalia) and its utility for biochronology.
- Revista Espa�ola de Paleontology, 24 (2), 107-120. ISSN
0213-6937. - Martin Pickford - 2009.
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