Bramatherium
| Bramatherium Temporal range: Late Miocene[1]-Pliocene | |
|---|---|
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| Bramatherium perimense skull | |
| 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.
Etymology
Bramatherium perimense skull
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.
See also
References
- ↑ Geraads, Denis, and Erksin Güleç. "A Bramatherium skull (Giraffidae, Mammalia) from the late Miocene of Kavakdere (Central Turkey). Biogeographic and phylogenetic implications." Mineral Res. Expl. Bul 121 (1999): 51-56.
- Falconer, H. (1845) “Description of some fossil remains of Deinotherium, Giraffe, and other mammalia, from Perim Island, Gulf of Cambay, Western Coast of India”, J. Geol. Soc., 1, 356-372.
External links
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