Bramatherium

Taxobox
name = "Bramatherium"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Pliocene


image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Artiodactyla
familia = Giraffidae
subfamilia = Sivatheriinae
genus = "Bramatherium"
genus_authority = Falconer 1845
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
* "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 throughout Asia, from India to Turkey. It is closely related to the larger "Sivatherium".

Etymology

The first part of Bramatherium's name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine "IAST|brahman-", nominative "IAST|brahmā" _sa. 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.

References

*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

*http://www.infohub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3421
*http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:EEby4EfUJA8J:www.mta.gov.tr/english/dergi/dergi_pdf/121/4.pdf+Bramatherium&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us