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The Oldest Known Proboscidean and the Role of Africa in the Radiation= Of The oldest known proboscidean and the role of Africain the radiation'· of modem orders of placentals EMMANUEL GHEERBRANT Gheerbrant, E.: The oldest known proboscidean and the role of Africa in the radiation of modern orders of placentals. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark, Vol. 44, pp. 181-185. Copenhagen, 1998-02-28. https://doi.org/10.37570/bgsd-1998-44-12 Implications of the discovery of the oldest known proboscidean (Mammalia; Proboscidea) in the late Paleocene of Morocco, Phosphatherium escuilliei, are examined here in an overview of the paleobiogeographical framework of the African mammals. P. escuilliei evidences again the role of Africa in the radiation of modern orders of mammals and the early age of this radiation, which may be related to the extinctions at the K-T boundary. It supports definitely an African origin of the proboscideans, as for primates, hyracoideans, tubulidentates and macroscelideans. It examplifies a much higher antiquity of the African ende­ mism of the placentals than was thought. Key-words: Africa, Paleogene, radiation, mammals, proboscideans, endemism, Ouled Abdoun Basin. E. Gheerbrant,L aboratoire de Paliontologie des vertibris( Case 106), Universiti Paris 6, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris cidex, France. 18 February 1997. The Arabo-African continental plate was one of the in, fromthe local phosphate "couche II" which is clas­ main centres of mammal evolution at the beginning sically dated as Thanetian (Arambourg 1952). This of the Cenozoic. Because of a poor fossil record, es­ Thanetian age is supported by the selachian teeth pre­ pecially compared to Laurasiatic continents, this has served in the matrix of the specimens (Gheerbrant et long been overlooked. The early Cenozoic mammal al. 1996, Gheerbrant, Sudre, Cappetta & Bignot, in record of the Arabo-African continent is indeed one press). of the poorest with that of Antarctica (two Eocene Its jugalupper dentition is characterized by the pres­ localities ; Woodburne & Zinsmeister 1984, Hooker ence of a small canine, followedby a diastema, three 1992) and Australia (one Eocene locality; Godthelp, premolars, and three bilophodont molars which in­ Archer, Cifelli, Hand & Gilkeson 1992). Wide gaps crease in size fromMl/ to M3/. Its most conspicuous occur in Africa in the Eocene and the Paleocene, and derived proboscidean featuresare the loss of Pl/, the nothing is known forthe late Cretaceous. developed distocrista and the molars of bilophodont The discovery of the new proboscidean Phosphath­ and true lophodont pattern(i.e. presence of two sharp erium escuilliei Gheerbrant, Sudre & Cappetta 1996 and regular transverse crests, and absence of conules). fromthe Paleocene phosphates of North Africa, from More generalized featuresof the tethytheres also occur, a new locality of the phosphate Ouled Abdoun Basin, such as the orbit in anterior position and the occur­ Morocco (Fig.I), evidences again the role of Africa rence of an inflated postentoconule which is also in the radiation of modernmammal orders. known in sirenians. Numidotherium koholense Jaeger 1986 (in Mahboubi, Ameur, Crochet & Jaeger 1986) from the late Early Eocene locality of El Kohol, Al­ geria, previously the oldest known proboscidean, has The oldest known proboscidean a nearly identical dentition. P. escuilliei is therefore Phosphatherium escuilliei documents the oldest and included in the same family Numidotheriidae. How­ most primitive known proboscidean. It is known from ever, most of their shared features are primitive in two maxilla fragments preserving most of the jugal proboscideans, possibly except forthe absence of a dentition (dP4/, P3-4/, Ml-2/). The specimens come molar lingual cingulum. P. escuilliei differs from N. fromthe north-easternpart of the Ouled Abdoun Bas- koholense mainly by primitive features. Most strik- Gheerbrant: African placental mammal origin and radiation 181 Fig. 1. Location of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, Morocco (Fig. 1 in Noubhani & Cappetta, 1994). Phosphatherium escuilliei comes from the north-eastem part of the Ouled Abdoun Basin, from the "couche II" of the quarrier terminology which is dated as Thanetian on the basis of its fossil selachian fauna. ing is its much smaller size; based on allometric scal- Proboscidea is among the most derived placental or- ing of the teeth (Gingerich, Smith & Rosenberg 1982), ders. The discovery of a Paleocene proboscidean is its estimated body weight ranges from 10 to 15 kilo- indeed the first direct evidence of the early age of the grams, which corresponds to the smallest known radiation of modem orders of placentals, which must proboscidean. Another striking primitive feature of be earlier than the late Paleocene. The radiation must f! escuilliei is the retention of a distinct centrocrista also have been very rapid, with an "explosive" pat- which is linked to an inflated mesostyle. This is a ves- tern, if it is closely correlative to the extinction events tige of the dilambdodonty which is generalized in at the end of the Cretaceous. ungulates, known, e.g. in hyracoids, embrithopods, l? escuilliei emphasizes the ancient origin of the and perissodactyls. proboscideans of the Arabo-African continent and the antiquity of the placenta1 population on the continent. The early presence of placentals on the continent was already suggested by the diversified Thanetian Adrar Paleobiogeographical framework and Mgorn fauna from the Ouarzazate Basin, Morocco (Gheerbrant 1990), which is the only other known implications of the discovery of Paleocene mammal fauna from the Arabo-African Phosphatherium escuilliei continent. It was also suggested by the diversity and The discovery of a Paleocene proboscidean from the the strongly endemic character of later Paleogene Arabo-African continent has several implications of African marnmal faunas. The endemism is still no- broad interest for mammals. It ranks among the few ticeable in extant African mammal faunas with the known fossil occurrences of modem orders of mam- occurrence of peculiar taxa such as potamogales mals in pre-Eocene strata. Of the 18 extant placental (tenrecids), golden moles (chrysochlorids), elephant- orders, only 7 were previously recorded before the shrews (macroscelideans), aardvarks (tubulidentates), Eocene: the edentates (palaeanodonts), the lipotyph- hyraxes (hyracoideans), and the thryonomyid and Ians (especially nyctitheriids), the carnivorans (viver- anomalurid rodent families. However, it is during ravids), the lagomorphs (mimotonids), the rodents Paleogene time that the endemism of the mammals (ischyromyids, eurymylids), the primates (Altiatla- on the Arabo-African continent culminates. Among sius), and perhaps the dermopterans if plesiadapifonns the known fossils, the then native mammals are really belong to this order. Actually, P. escuilliei is strongly predominant. They belong to several line- the oldest known modem ungulate, and the first one ages of extant taxa (Fig. 2): some, such as the pri- recorded from the Paleocene. According to current mates and the proboscideans, are known as early as phylogenetic studies (e.g. Novacek 1992, 1993), the late Paieocene; others, such as the macroscelideans, 182 Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark Fig. 2. Temporal distribution of the mammal orders in the Paleocene Eocene Ollgocene Miocene Pllo-Quat. Arabo-African continent. For Ma 65 53 34 23.5 5.3 O each order, the probable episodes of immigration in the Arabo-African continent are indicated by arrows (1). Discontinuous lines indicate Hyracoideans- - - - - - - - --...... uncertain fossil record. Paleogene localities: 1. Adrar +€mbrithopods - - - - - - - - - Mgorn (Morocco), Ouled Abdoun (Morocco); 2. Perissodactyls - - - - - .. - - .- - - - - - - - - - - - - - N'Tagourt 2 (Morocco); 3. El Kohol (Algeria), Chambi Arttodactyls (Tunisia), Gour Lazib and Glib Zegdou (Algeria); 4. M'Bodione Dadere (Senegal), ? In Tafidet (Mali), Tamaguilelt '~reodonts - - -- -.......g .w---- (Mali), Kpogamé-Hahotoé (hyaenodontids) (Togo); 5. Bir El Ater Carnivores- - - - - q-. (Algeria), Dor El Talha (Evaporite Unit, Libya), ? Lipotyphlans- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fayum (Qasr El Sagha Fm, I Egypt); 6. Dor El Talha (Idam Unit, Libya), Fayum (Jebel Qatrani Fm, Egypt), Zella Primates - - - - -...... (Libya), Jebel Hasawnah (Libya), Taqah and Thaytiniti Macroscelideans- - - - - - - %...,, .III.I.UIL.I m (Oman), Malembe (Angola), I Jebel Bou Gobrine (Tunisia), Oued Bazina (Tunisia), Bled Mellaha (Tunisia). - -- --...s.. .. I Paleogene local~ties O O @ the first rhinolophoid and vespertilionoid chiropterans, mates from the Paieogene of Africa me the most likely the hyracoideans and the zegdoumyid rodents (con- ancestors of, respectively, the caviomorph rodents and sidered as ancestral to the extant anomalurids by the platyrrhine primates of South America. Finally, Vianey-Liaud et al. 1994), are known since the late Gingerich (1986) has advanced the hypothesis of an early Eocene; and still others, such as the phiomyid African origin of flourishing Laurasiatic groups such rodents (presumed to be ancestral to extant thryono- as the adapiform and omomyiform primates, the myids), are known from the late Eocene. There are hyaenodontid creodonts, the artiodactyls and the per- several other modem marnmal taxa which possibly or issodactyls. Among them, artiodactyls and perissodac- probably originated on the Arabo-African continent tyls are major components of the extant herbivorous in Paleogene times (Fig. 3). Such is the case for the mammal fauna.The sudden
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