''Sivatherium'' ("Shiva's beast", from

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

and ''therium'', Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον -'' thēríon'') is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

to the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

. The species ''Sivatherium giganteum'' is, by weight, one of the largest giraffid known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time. ''Sivatherium'' originated during the Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

(around 7 million years ago) in Africa and survived through to the late Early Pleistocene ( Calabrian) ''S. giganteum'' remains have been recovered from the

Himalayan foothills The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, dating around 1 million years ago. Suggestions have been made that ''S. maurusium'' may have gone extinct as recently as 8,000 years ago, as depictions that resemble it are known from ancient rock paintings in the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

and Central West India. But these claims are not substantiated by fossil evidence, and the depictions likely represent other animals.

Description

''Sivatherium'' resembled the modern okapi, but was far larger, and more heavily built, being about tall at the shoulder, in total height with a weight up to . A newer estimate has come up with an estimated body mass of about or . This would make ''Sivatherium'' one of the largest known ruminants, rivalling the modern giraffe and the largest bovines. This weight estimate is thought to be an underestimate, as it does not take into account the large horns possessed by males of the species. ''Sivatherium'' had a wide,

antler Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on male ...

-like pair of ossicones on its head, and a second pair of ossicones above its

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

s. Its shoulders were very powerful to support the

neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the torso. The neck supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that carry sensory and motor information from the brain down to the rest of the body. In ...

muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...

s required to lift the heavy

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

. Sivatherium was initially misidentified as an archaic link between modern ruminants and the now obsolete, polyphyletic "pachyderms" (elephants, rhinoceroses, horses and tapirs). The confusion arose in part due to the graviportal (robust) morphology, which was unlike anything else studied at that time.

Diet

A dental wear analysis of ''S. hendeyi'' from the Early Pliocene of South Africa found that the teeth were brachyodont, but had a higher

hypsodonty Hypsodont is a pattern of dentition with high-crowned teeth and enamel extending past the gum line, providing extra material for wear and tear. Some examples of animals with hypsodont dentition are cows and horses; all animals that feed on gritt ...

than a giraffe, and that it was best classified as a mixed feeder, being able to both graze and browse.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q899506 Miocene mammals of Africa Pliocene mammals of Africa Pleistocene mammals of Africa Miocene mammals of Asia Pliocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric giraffes Pliocene even-toed ungulates Pleistocene even-toed ungulates Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera Miocene first appearances Pleistocene extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1836

Description

Diet

See also

References

Further reading

External links