Bramatherium

Bramatherium
Temporal range: Pliocene
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Subfamily: †Sivatheriinae
Genus: Bramatherium
Falconer, 1845
Species
  • B. perimense Falconer 1845 (type species)
  • B. progressus
  • B. giganteus (Khan and Sarwar 2002)
  • B. megacephalum (Lydekker 1876)
  • B. grande (Lydekker 1880)
  • B. magnum (Pilgrim 1910)
  • B. suchovi Godina 1977

Bramatherium is an extinct genus of giraffe that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger Sivatherium.

Contents

Etymology

The first part of the generic name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine brahman-, nominative brahmā ब्रह्मा), is in reference to the Hindu god of creation. The second part, "therium", comes from the Greek word θηρίον (transliterated therion), meaning 'beast'.

Description

Bramatherium was built very similarly to Sivatherium. Alive, it would have resembled a heavily-built Okapi and had five ossicones, the anterior pair being large and horn-like, and the posterior three being small, and bump-like.

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