Prolibytherium

Prolibytherium ("Before Libya's Beast") is an extinct artiodactyl ungulate native to Early Miocene North Africa and Pakistan, from around 16.9 to 15.97 million years ago.
The 1.80 metres (5 ft 11 in) long creature would have superficially resembled an okapi or a deer. Unlike these, however, Prolibytheriumdisplayed dramatic sexual dimorphism, in that the male had a set of large, leaf-shaped ossicones with a width of 35 centimetres (14 in), while the female had a set of slender, horn-like ossicones.
The taxonomic status of Prolibytherium remains in flux. At one time, it was described as a relative of Sivatherium (as a precursor to "Libytherium maurusium" (S. maurusium)). Later, it would be regarded as a palaeomerycid, or either as a climacoceratid, or as a basal member of Giraffoidea. With the discovery and study of a female skull in 2010, Prolibytherium is tentatively regarded as a climacoceratid.
Category:Animals
Category:Creatures
Category:Miocene mammals of africa
Category:Climacoceratidae
Category:Prehistoric mammal genera
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1961