Numidotherium koholense

Overview

Numidotherium koholense is an early proboscidean from Eocene Algeria. Bones of the shoulder, hip, hands, and feet provide clues to studying how it stood and walked. It offers a look at the history of elephant relatives through their limbs.^[1]

Key facts

Elephant relatives may first bring trunks and tusks to mind. Numidotherium research focuses on the structures of the shoulder, hip, hands, and feet. It explored early proboscidean gait through several parts that supported the body.^[1]

Time and place

It is studied from Eocene fossils in Algeria. The Eocene as a whole was roughly 56–34 million years ago. This material offers a view of the early history of proboscideans, the group that includes living elephants.^[1][2]

The time range describes source context, not the complete duration of this species.

Size, form and skeleton

The research examines the limb bones together with the shoulder and hip structures close to the trunk and the hands and feet. Comparisons extend from where the limbs join the body to where they meet the ground. This organism draws attention to structures that support the body.^[1]

Numidotherium koholense is estimated to have stood about 90cm–1m at the shoulder. This size was summarized from robust body bones in a 2016 study of proboscidean size.^[3]

The same study estimated its body mass at about 250–300kg. It was small compared with today’s giant elephants, but its four legs supported a fairly hefty body.^[3]

Habitat and reproduction

How did early elephant relatives stand and walk? Researchers interpreted posture and gait from the structure of the limb bones. This asks about body function by examining how the bones connect.^[1]

Fossil discovery

Research on the limb posture and gait of Numidotherium compared early proboscideans from Eocene Algeria. It examined several regions together, from the shoulder to the hands and feet. The study broadened attention from familiar elephants to the limbs of earlier relatives.^[1]

References

1. Study of limb posture and gait in Numidotherium koholense
2. International Commission on Stratigraphy (2024) — Geological time chart
3. Larramendi (2016) — Shoulder height and body mass in proboscideans
4. Sanders et al.2010 — Barytherium and early proboscideans

Research questions

How do the shoulder and feet contribute to gait in different ways? Rather than looking at only one part of a limb, we can compare the regions joining the body with those touching the ground. This provides a new observational question for early proboscideans.^[1]

Observation

Start at the shoulder and hip and move your gaze toward the hands and feet. Imagining the connections among the bones supporting the body helps explain why Numidotherium research focused on its limbs.^[1]