Orycteropus undetermined

Lehmann, Thomas, 2009, Phylogeny and systematics of the Orycteropodidae (Mammalia, Tubulidentata), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (3), pp. 649-702 : 688

SPECIES ORYCTEROPUS SP. ASA KOMA

Material: Two fifth metacarpals (ASK-VP-1/23; ASK-VP-3/247), described by Lehmann (2008a) as Orycteropus sp. The material is housed at the National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

Locality and age: Asa Koma (Middle Awash, Ethiopia) from the Asa Koma Member (Adu-Asa Formation) dated from the Late Miocene, between 5.54 and 5.77 Mya ( WoldeGabriel et al., 2001).

Discussion: Lehmann (2008a) suggested that the material from Asa Koma was closer in size and showed more affinities with the ‘Plio-Pleistocene forms than [with] other Miocene species. In particular, their lengths are close to the largest individuals of O. afer and O. crassidens ’. I therefore recommend refering these Ethiopian specimens to the genus Orycteropus . The material is too fragmentary to allow identification at the species level. Along with the specimens from Lothagam, and Lukeino, these fossil aardvarks are the sole known representatives of the genus in the Miocene.