Moeritherium was one of the most ancient ancestors of elephants, in fact it is also a mammal belonging to the order Proboscidea. However, moeritherium belonged to the family moeritheridae (the family that included the moeritheri species and from which elephants will descend).
The main picture is a photo that I took at London's natural hystory museum.
The following species of moeritherium have been discovered:
- Moeritherium andrewsi.
- Moeritherium chebeurameuri.
- Moeritherium gracile.
- Moeritherium latidens.
- Moeritherium lyonsi.
- Moeritherium pharaonensis.
When and where did the moeritherium live?
The moeritherium lived in the Cenozoic (the set of eras that came after the dinosaurs), more precisely it lived in the Eocene between 36 and 33 million years ago.
Moeritherium lived mainly in mangroves and other marshy environments rich in aquatic plants.
Its fossils have been found in north and west Africa, more precisely in Senegal, Libya and Mali.
How big was the moeritherium?
Picture link: https://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/species/m/moeritherium.html
The moeritherium was 1.8 meters high, 2 meters long and weighed 235 kilograms.
What made the moeritherium unique?
As already mentioned, moeritherium was an ancestor of today's elephants. This is shown by the small trunk that it used as a tool to grab food and the thick skin.
The skull of the moeritherium had a long back and inside the mouth there were 4 small tusks similar to those of elephants.
Moeritherium was mostly adapted to aquatic life, which made it rather clumsy on land but made it a good swimmer.
Was the moeritherium a solitary or a social animal?
The social attitudes of the moeritherium are not known yet. However, since it was an ancestor of elephants, it is assumed that it lived in small herds of females while the males lived alone.
What did the moeritherium eat?
Like elephants, moeritherium was also a purely herbivorous animal. Unlike its descendants, its diet was more restricted: the moeritherium fed only on aquatic plants which it collected on the bottom of the mangroves with its trunk.
Who were the moeritherium's natural enemies?
The moeritherium was large enough to not fear attacks by crocodiles and sharks (the main predators of the mangroves).
Its only predator was the basilosaurus, a prehistoric predatory whale that often entered mangroves in search of food.
What caused the extinction of the moeritherium?
It's still unknown why the moeritherium went extinct.
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