Phiomia fossil map
Where fossils of Phiomia have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 30 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 30 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 41.03–23.04 million years ago (Bartonian to Chattian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Named by | Andrews and Beadnell 1902 |
| Fossil records | 26 occurrences at 9 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Libya, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, Oman |
| Rock formations | txn:NF, Jebel Qatrani, Idam Unit, Lokone Sandstone, Malembo, Ashawq |
About Phiomia
Phiomia (after the Ancient Greek phiom "lake", an ancient name for the Fayum) is an extinct genus of basal elephantiform proboscidean that lived in what is now Northern Africa during the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene some 37–30 million years ago. The type specimen of Phiomia, part of the mandible (lower jaw), was described in 1902 by Charles William Andrews and Hugh John Llewellyn. Unsure of its identity, they assigned it, tentatively, to the obsolete order Creodonta. Subsequently, it was recognised as a proboscidean. Briefly it was treated as a junior synonym of Palaeomastodon, but the two are regarded as separate genera. Though five species have been assigned to Phiomia over the years, only two, P. serridens (the type species) and P. major, are currently recognised.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Phiomia (revision 1373008283), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q134407.
