Bramatherium Temporal range: Pliocene |
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Conservation status | |
Fossil
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Giraffidae |
Subfamily: | †Sivatheriinae |
Genus: | †Bramatherium Falconer, 1845 |
Species | |
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Bramatherium is an extinct genus of giraffe that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger Sivatherium.
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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'.
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.