Résumé
A long hiatus encompassing most of the Eocene (end of the Ypresian to the
early Priabonian) breaks up the proboscidean evolutionary history, which
is otherwise documented by a rich fossil record. Only two post Ypresian
localities from West Africa (Mali and Senegal) yielded scarce
Moeritherium-like dental remains. Here, we study one of these remains from
Senegal and name a new genus, Saloumia. This taxon, confidently
mid-Lutetian in age, evokes Moeritherium and elephantifoms in view of its
wrinkled enamel, the lack of centrocrista, and its strong lingual
cingulum. However, due to its pronounced bunodonty, which departs from the
bunolophodonty of both Moeritherium and elephantifoms, we cannot exclude
that Saloumia documents an early experiment in dental diversity among
Paleocene-Eocene proboscideans, without direct relationships with later
proboscideans.