Urmiatherium Rodler, 1889

Kostopoulos, Dimitris S., 2014, Taxonomic re-assessment and phylogenetic relationships of Miocene homonymously spiral-horned antelopes, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 59 (1), pp. 9-29 : 19

Genus Urmiatherium Rodler, 1889

(= Parurmiatherium Sickenberg, 1932 )

Type species: Urmiatherium polaki Rodler, 1889 ; see below.

Emended diagnosis.—Apomorphic traits: Medium to large−sized bovids with strong cranio−facial flexion, strongly elevated, thick and pneumatized frontals, and an extremely short opisthocranium; parietals strongly reduced on the skull roof; face deep; occipital large and thick, with occiput facing mostly dorsally; basioccipital thick; posterior tuberosities of basioccipital well−developed and partly or completely fused, forming an additional oval−shaped posterior facet for the atlas; horncores thick, short, homonymously twisted, anteroposteriorly expanded over the frontals, very close to each other or merging at the base, and bearing a wide and well−defined lateral depression; mandibular corpus shallow; hypsodont dentition; premolars short compared to the molars; tight articulation between occipital and atlas; metapodials moderately long and robust, with relatively wide epiphyses.