Sivatherium
Sivatherium ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and therium, Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον - thēríon) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged throughout Africa to the Indian subcontinent. The species Sivatherium giganteum is, by weight, one of the largest giraffids known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time.
| Sivatherium Temporal range: Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene, | |
|---|---|
| Skeleton of S. giganteum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Giraffidae |
| Subfamily: | †Sivatheriinae |
| Genus: | †Sivatherium Falconer & Cautley, 1836 |
| Type species | |
| †Sivatherium giganteum Falconer & Cautley, 1836 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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†Libytherium | |
Sivatherium originated during the Late Miocene (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, 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 and Central West India. However, these claims are not substantiated by fossil evidence, and the depictions likely represent other animals.