Eritherium facts for kids

Eritherium was a very old and tiny animal that lived a long, long time ago. It's super important because it's the earliest known relative of today's elephants! Imagine a mini-elephant ancestor, about the size of a small dog. Scientists found its bones in Morocco, a country in Africa.

Discovering Eritherium

Scientists found the first Eritherium fossils in Morocco. A scientist named Emmanuel Gheerbrant officially named it in 2009. The specific type of Eritherium discovered is called Eritherium azzouzorum.

The rocks where its bones were found tell us how old Eritherium is. These rocks show that this ancient animal lived between 61.1 and 57.8 million years ago. That's during a time period called the Paleocene epoch.

What Was Eritherium Like?

Eritherium is the oldest known animal in a group called Proboscideans. This group includes all elephants and their extinct relatives. Even though it's related to elephants, Eritherium was very small. It's the smallest and most basic elephant relative ever found.

Scientists haven't placed Eritherium into a specific family within the Proboscidean group yet. However, they know it's closely related to other ancient animals like Phosphatherium, Numidotherium, and Moeritherium. These animals are like its closest cousins in the family tree.

Elephants: An Ancient Family

Finding Eritherium and its relatives helps us understand how mammals changed and grew after a huge event. This event was the K/T extinction event, which happened about 66 million years ago. It's when the dinosaurs disappeared.

The story of Eritherium and its cousins shows us a very clear path of how early mammals developed. This means that elephants are one of the oldest groups of "modern" mammals that are still alive today. They have a very long and interesting family history!