Arsinoitherium zitteli

This strange bony head belonged to a large, extinct, African animal slightly resembling a rhinoceros but which does not have any living relative. It belongs to the Paenungulata, the group of ungulates of African origin that encompasses the proboscideans (elephants), sirenia (dugongs and manatees) and hyracoidea (hyraxes). Arsinoitherium is a paenungulate belonging to the extinct order of embrithopoda.

The most striking characteristic of this animal is the presence of two enormous nasal horns, which are joined at the base and project forward, and a second pair of much smaller horns located behind the eyes. Despite their size, these horns were light because they were hollow. It is thought that they acted as a sound box for the animal’s cries, which must have been powerful. Traces of blood vessels on their surface indicate that they were covered in skin like the giraffe’s ossicones. The teeth of Arsinoitherium are also very peculiar; the complete dental arcade is comprised of 44 high-crowned and sharp-crested teeth, adapted for feeding on leaves and large fruit which it was particularly fond of.

Arsinoitherium is named after Arsinoë, an Egyptian queen who, during the Ptolemaic era, gave her name to the region where this fossil was found. This is the only region to have yielded complete skeletons. Fragmentary fossils of Arsinoitherium have also been found at other sites of the same age in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Cast donated by the Natural History Museum of London in 1908.