Arsinoitherium

Arsinoitherium is an extinct genus of large herbivorous mammals from Africa’s late Eocene and Oligocene. Its skull bore two enormous paired horns and a smaller pair behind them.

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Paleogene: The geological period spanning about 66 to 23 million years ago, before the Neogene. The genus lived during the late Eocene and Oligocene, both epochs of the Paleogene.
Arsinoitherium zitteli: An extinct species of Arsinoitherium known from Oligocene deposits in Egypt. This is the best-known species and a principal source for reconstructing the genus.
Faiyum Oasis: A region of Egypt containing rich Eocene and Oligocene fossil deposits. Its deposits yielded major Arsinoitherium remains, including material of A. zitteli.
Rhinocerotidae: The living family of rhinoceroses and their extinct relatives, generally bearing keratin-covered horns. Arsinoitherium resembled a rhinoceros in overall build but belonged to a different mammal lineage.
Eocene: A geological epoch lasting from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago. The genus first appeared in Africa during the late part of this epoch.
Arsinoitherium giganteum: An extinct species of Arsinoitherium identified from Oligocene fossils in Ethiopia. Its remains show that the genus included species beyond the Egyptian form.
Jebel Qatrani Formation: An Egyptian geological formation preserving diverse late Eocene and Oligocene fossils. Fossils from this formation document Arsinoitherium in its best-known setting.
Proboscidea: The mammalian order that includes elephants and their extinct relatives. Arsinoitherium’s ancestry was separate from that of elephants despite occasional comparisons.
Oligocene: A geological epoch lasting from about 33.9 to 23 million years ago. Arsinoitherium persisted into this epoch, when African ecosystems were changing.
Mammalian horns: Hard cranial structures found in several mammal lineages, with varied growth and composition. Arsinoitherium’s paired horn cores were unusually large and prominent.