Kubanochoerus is an extinct genus of large, long-legged suidae artiodactyl mammal from the Miocene of Eurasia and Africa.
Taxonomy
The genera
Libycochoerus and
Megalochoerus were once assigned to
Kubanochoerus but are now considered distinct based on dental and minor cranial details.
[Bishop LC (2010) Suoidea. In: Werdelin L, Sanders WJ, editors. Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 821–842.]
The putative
paraceratheriid genus
Caucasotherium, described from the Caucasus on the basis of a bone fragment with four incisors, is actually a synonym of the Middle Miocene
Kubanochoerus gigas.
[PICKFORD, M., GABUNIA, L., MEIN, P., MORALES, J. & AZANZA, B. 2000. The Middle Miocene Mammalian site of Belometchetskaya, North Caucasus: an important biostratigraphic link between Europe and China. - Géobios 33 (2): 257-267, Lyon.]
Description
The largest species, the aptly named
K. gigas, grew to be around at the shoulder, and probably weighed up to in life.
[ Teeth: Kubanochoerus gigas lii (GUAN). tesorosnaturales.es] The heads of these pigs were unmistakable, with small eyebrow horns, and a large horn emanating from the forehead of the males. It is speculated that the males used their forehead horns for jousting with each other.
Bibliography
External links
