Amphiorycteropus undetermined

Lehmann, Thomas, 2009, Phylogeny and systematics of the Orycteropodidae (Mammalia, Tubulidentata), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (3), pp. 649-702 : 673

SPECIES AMPHIORYCTEROPUS SP. SAITUNE DORA

Material: A sesamoid bone (STD-VP-2/855) and a fourth intermediate phalanx of the foot (STD-VP-2/ 856), described by Lehmann (2008a) as Orycteropus sp. The material is housed at the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

Locality and age: Saitune Dora (Middle Awash, Ethiopia) from the Asa Koma Member (Adu-Asa Formation) dated from Late Miocene, between 5.77 and 5.54 Mya ( WoldeGabriel et al., 2001).

Discussion: Lehmann (2008a) noticed that the material from Saitune Dora appeared to be ‘closer to the Late Miocene Chadian [A.] abundulafus and European [A.] gaudryi than to the Plio–Pleistocene West African forms [from the genus Orycteropus , n.d.]’. Moreover, the dimensions of these bones are distinct from those of Myorycteropus . In consequence, I tentatively refer these Ethiopian specimens to the genus Amphiorycteropus .