Discovery of an embrithopod mammal (Arsinoitherium?) in the late Eocene of Tunisia

Nicolas Vialle , Gilles Merzeraud (1) , Cyrille Delmer (2) , Monique Feist (3) , Suzanne Jiquel (3) , Laurent Marivaux (3) , Anusha Ramdarshan (3) , Monique Vianey-Liaud (3) , El Mabrouk Essid (4) , Wissem Marzougui (4) , Hayet Khayati Ammar (4) , Rodolphe Tabuce (3)

1 Bassins
2 NHM - The Natural History Museum [London]
3 UMR ISEM - Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier
4 ONM - Office National des Mines

Dental and postcranial remains (an atlas, carpus and metacarpus elements, and a part of the pelvic girdle) of an embrithopod mammal are described from Bir Om Ali, Tunisia, a new late Eocene locality. The enamel microstructure of a tooth fragment found in association shows 'arsinoitheriid radial enamel', an enamel condition which is characteristic of Arsinoitherium (Arsinoitheriidae, Embrithopoda). Although the postcranial elements slightly differ in size and morphology from those of Arsinoitherium zitteli (late Eocene to early Oligocene), we tentatively refer this new Eocene Tunisian material to that genus. These fossils represent the first known embrithopod from the Eocene of Tunisia.

Mots clés: Africa; Palaeogene; Arsinoitherium; Enamel microstructure; Charophytes

Domaines: Paléontologie

Nicolas Vialle, Gilles Merzeraud, Cyrille Delmer, Monique Feist, Suzanne Jiquel, et al.. Discovery of an embrithopod mammal (Arsinoitherium?) in the late Eocene of Tunisia. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 2013, 87, pp.86-92. ⟨10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2013.07.010⟩. ⟨hal-00903435⟩