Tethytragus

Tethytragus was a genus of caprine bovid that lived in the Middle and Late Miocene.

Geographic range

Fossils of the genus have been found in Spain and Turkey.

Palaeoecology

Tethytragus was a grazer or a mixed feeder in its feeding habits. Dental microwear and mesowear analyses of T. langai give conflicting evidence as to its dietary habits; the latter suggests an exclusively grazing diet while the former suggests mixed feeding habits; the totality of the evidence suggests the species was a mixed feeder on the grazing end of the spectrum between browsers and grazers. Paired ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, δ¹⁸O_CO3, and δ¹³C measurements from the tooth enamel of Tethytragus sp. from the Middle Miocene site of Gratkörn in Austria show it to have been a canopy browser that exclusively ingested C₃ plants.

References