Moeritherium

Jurassic Park Builder Artwork

***Moeritherium*** ('the beast from Lake Moeris') is a genus of basal proboscidian, consisting of several species. These prehistoric mammals are related to the elephant and, more distantly, the sea cow. They lived during the Eocene epoch.

The *Moeritherium* species were animals that lived about 37-35 million years ago, and probably looked like a cross between a tapir and a hippo. They were smaller than modern elephants, standing only 70 centimetres (2.3 feet) high at the shoulder and were about 3 metres (9.8 ) long. They are believed to have wallowed in swamps and rivers, filling the ecological niche now filled by the hippopotamus. The shape of their teeth suggest that they ate soft water vegetation.

The shape of the skull suggests that *Moeritherium* did not have an elephant-like trunk, but it may have had a broad flexible upper lip like a tapir's for grasping aquatic vegetation. The second incisor teeth formed small tusks, although these would have looked more like the teeth of a hippo than a modern elephant.

*Moeritherium* is not believed to be an ancestor of modern elephants; it was a branch of the order that died out, leaving no descendants. There were several species of early elephants in existence during the Eocene, and some, such as *Paleomastodon*, looked relatively similar to modern elephants. However, *Moeritherium* typified a branch of the family that evolved in a quite different way, having only a stubby trunk and short legs.

The first fossils of *Moeritherium* were discovered in the Egyptian Fayum in 1904. It is also found in other sites around North and West Africa. By 36 million years ago there were already several members of the elephant family - some of them looked pretty similar to modern elephants. *Moeritherium*, however, was a bit of a side branch who seems to have adopted a hippo-like lifestyle, and didn't have the familiar trunk or tusks.

## Description

The *Moeritherium* species were pig-like animals that lived about 37-35 million years ago, and resembled modern tapirs[1] or pygmy hippopotamuses (they are not believed to be related to either of those animals, however). They were smaller than modern elephants, standing only 70 centimetres (2.3 ft) high at the shoulder and were about 3 metres (9.8 ft) long.[citation needed] They are believed[by whom?] to have wallowed in swamps and rivers, filling the ecological niche now filled by the hippopotamus. The shape of their teeth suggests that they ate soft water vegetation.

The shape of the skull suggests that *Moeritherium* did not have an elephant-like trunk, but it may have had a broad flexible upper lip like a tapir's for grasping aquatic vegetation. The second incisor teeth formed small tusks, although these would have looked more like the teeth of a hippo than a modern elephant.

## Discovery

In 1901, Charles William Andrews described *Moeritherium lyonsi* from fossil remains found in the Qasr-el-Sagha formation in the Al Fayyum in Egypt. Andrews described *Moeritherium gracile* from fossil remains of a smaller specimen found in the same area in 1902 in a fluvio-marine formation, that is a river estuary wetlands to brackish lagoon paleoenvironment. In 1904, the first *Moeritherium trigodon* fossils were discovered by Charles Andrews in the deposits of an oasis in Al Fayyum. It is also found in other sites around North and West Africa. In 1911, Max Schlosser of Munich divided *Moeritherium lyonsi* into two species: *Moeritherium lyonsi*, a large form from the Qasr-el-Sagha formation, and a new large species *M. andrewsi* from a fluvio-marine formation. In 2006, *Moeritherium chehbeurameuri* has been described from fossil remains found in the early late Eocene locality of Bir El Ater, Algeria.

Partial M. andrewsi skull with reconstructionLife restoration from 1920Skeleton in Japan
## Classification

Moeritherium is not thought to be directly ancestral to modern elephants; it was a branch of Proboscidea that died out, leaving no descendants. There were several species of other primitive proboscideans in existence during the Eocene, and some, such as Phiomia and Palaeomastodon, looked comparatively more like modern elephants. However, Moeritherium was clearly a side branch of the proboscidean family tree, having evolved to resemble other rotund semiaquatic mammals such as pigs, tapirs, and hippos instead of having the typical proboscidean body form.

## Appearance in other media

### *Jurassic Park*

* Moeritherium appeared in the video game Jurassic Park Builder.