Bramatherium

Bramatherium perimense

Resurrected on:

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Genus information

Bramatherium is an extinct relative of the modern giraffe and ranged between Eastern Europe and the Indian subcontinent during the Miocene and Pliocene epoch. Bramatherium was a very large ungulate with unusual ossicones (horns only giraffes and its extinct relatives possess): two large, straight up standing and two smaller ones going sideways. The species had relatively short legs and neck and inhabited dry savannas and sparse forests, feeding on branches and leaves of trees and bushes. The name 'Bramatherium' means Brahma's beast and refers to the Hindu god of creation.

Family:

Distribution:

Epoch:

Giraffidae

Eurasia

Miocene to Pliocene

Species information

A total of six species are currently recognized within the genus, of which B. perimense is recognized as the type species. It lived during the Miocene and Pliocene epoch and fossils have been found Turkey, Pakistan and India. It stood 2.3 m high at the shoulders and weighed about 450 kg.

Species:

Paleontologist:

Distribution:

Epoch:

Bramatherium perimense

Falconer, 1845

Eurasia

Miocene to Pliocene

Length:

Height:

Weight:

3.4 m

2.3 m

450 kg

Reference:

Lewis, G. E. (1939). A new Bramatherium skull. American Journal of Science, 237(4), 275-280.