This fossil, showing a tooth and partial jawbone, comes from a relative of modern giraffes, part of the diverse Giraffidae family. The estimated age of 5–8 million years places it firmly within the Late Miocene, a key period for giraffid evolution.
While the fossil record includes the modern Giraffa genus, it is far more extensive, featuring many other extinct genera. This specimen is likely an early member of this wider evolutionary family, possibly one of the following genera known from that period:
Bohlinia: An extinct genus of long-necked giraffid that lived during the Late Miocene. It was widespread across Eurasia and Africa and is considered a likely ancestor of the modern Giraffa lineage.
Sivatherium: A large, heavily-built giraffid genus that lived across Africa and Eurasia.
Samotherium: An extinct giraffid genus from the Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia and Africa.
Decennatherium rex: Discovered in Spain and dating to about 9 million years ago, this early four-horned giraffid is considered an ancestor of the sivathere and samothere lineages.
This fossil, showing a tooth and partial jawbone, comes from a relative of modern giraffes, part of the diverse Giraffidae family. The estimated age of 5–8 million years places it firmly within the Late Miocene, a key period for giraffid evolution.
While the fossil record includes the modern Giraffa genus, it is far more extensive, featuring many other extinct genera. This specimen is likely an early member of this wider evolutionary family, possibly one of the following genera known from that period:
Bohlinia: An extinct genus of long-necked giraffid that lived during the Late Miocene. It was widespread across Eurasia and Africa and is considered a likely ancestor of the modern Giraffa lineage.
Sivatherium: A large, heavily-built giraffid genus that lived across Africa and Eurasia.
Samotherium: An extinct giraffid genus from the Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia and Africa.
Decennatherium rex: Discovered in Spain and dating to about 9 million years ago, this early four-horned giraffid is considered an ancestor of the sivathere and samothere lineages.
