New material of Anancus kenyensis (proboscidea, mammalia) from Toros-Menalla (Late Miocene, Chad): Contribution to the systematics of African anancines

New fossil remains of the proboscidean genus Anancus are described. Among them, a complete skull allows us to revisit for the first time the entire Chadian Anancus fossil record. This genus occurred in the Old World from the late Miocene up to the early Pleistocene. The analysis of dental and cranial characters was allowed individual variations from specific characters to be distinguished. In this study we show that Anancus kenyensis and Anancus osiris are very likely synonym taxa which leads us to emend the diagnosis of A. kenyensis. In addition, this study shows that dental characters in anancines lineage are of little significance for biostratigraphical inference, by contrast to previous works. This study brings new data about the phylogenetical and palaeobiogeographical history of the African anancines.