Oioceros

Oioceros is an extinct genus of spiral-horned antelope from the late Miocene. Its fossils have been found in Greece, China, Iran, and Africa. It was first discovered by Wagner in 1857, and contains nine species, "O. rothii", "O. atropatenes", "O. jiulongkouensis", "O. noverca", "O. robustus", "O. stenocephalus", "O. lishanensis", "O. wegneri", and "O. tanyceras". Former species include "O. grangeri" (Pilgrim, 1934), now recognized as the genus "Sinomegoceros", and "O. xiejiaensis" (Li and Qui; 1980), now recognized as the genus "Sinopalaeoceros".
"Oioceros" somewhat resembled a gazelle.
Description.
In 1997, an almost complete skull of "O. rothii" proved that it was similar to "Samotragus praecursor", with a short face, compared to its relatively long braincase, and isolated horn cores. However, unlike "S. praecursor", "O. rothii" had a jaw of primarily premolar teeth, which were longer than the molars found in the latter. Pilgrim and Hopwood described the genus as being "small size with long slender muzzle; face bent down on basicranial axis either slightly or to a moderate extent; orbits with expanded orbital roof; horn-cores twisted counter-clockwise in a fairly close spiral of one or two revolutions, widely separate, tilted backward or fairly upright, divergent, with a cross-section almost circular or elliptical, keeled either anteriorly or posteriorly or both; dentition moderately hypsodont, premolar series rather long and slender, molars broad with ribs of medium strength" (Pilgrim and Hopwood, 1928, p. 24). The horn cores of "Oioceros" have a torsion.