Prolibytherium magnieri Click on it to change costumes Prolibytherium is an extinct genus of prolibytheriid artiodactyl ungulate native to Middle Miocene North Africa and Pakistan, from around 16.9 to 15.97 million years ago. Fossils of Prolibytherium were found in the Marada Formation of Libya, Vihowa Formation of Pakistan, and the Moghara Formation of Egypt. The 1.80 metres (5 ft 11 in) long creature would have superficially resembled an okapi or a deer. Unlike these, however, Prolibytherium displayed 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 confirmed as a climacoceratid. A recent study published in 2022 found it to be part of a separate family, Prolibytheriidae.
The excerpts above have been taken from Wikipedia. Feel free to use in any project of your liking, with appropriate credit to me, @CretaceousCritter Sound used is 20260420_1043_Secret_Loch by Benson_Arizona -- https://freesound.org/s/851334/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 https://freesound.org/people/Benson_Arizona/sounds/851334/ Reference images can be found in the backdrops inside the project. Reference 1 The main skeletal reference is an okapi, as it's the closest thing to a Prolibytherium that I could find a skeletal for. https://www.estherzuidgeest.nl/portfolio/9-portfolio/portfolio-extended/27-the-digital-okapi-renders Reference 2 The actual fossils of the ossicones on the head of Prolibytherium to help me understand the real shape of them. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Prolibytherium-magnieri-remains-of-cranial-appendages-from-Gebel-Zelten-published-by_fig1_235436810 References 3 & 4 These are both life restorations of Prolibytherium to help me compare my version with other depictions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolibytherium#/media/File:Prolibytherium_magnieri_life_restoration.jpg https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Prolibytherium?file=Prolibytherium3-1.jpg Reference 5 An image of an okapi, so I can see the colors and soft tissues of the real animal, and avoid shrink-wrapping when my main reference is a skeleton. https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/okapi/ Reference 6 I needed a profile picture of an okapi head. https://www.marylandzoo.org/animal/okapi/
