Bramatherium (Brahma’s beast) is an extinct genus of giraffids that ranged from India to Turkey in Asia. It is closely related to the larger Sivatherium.
Bramatherium
Temporal range: Late Miocene-Pliocene | |||||
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Bramatherium perimense skull | |||||
Scientific classification | |||||
Kingdom: | Animalia | ||||
Phylum: | Chordata | ||||
Class: | Mammalia | ||||
Order: | Artiodactyla | ||||
Family: | Giraffidae | ||||
Genus: | †Bramatherium
Falconer, 1845 | ||||
Conservation Status | |||||
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Etymology
The first part of the generic name, Brahma (Sanskrit masculine 'brahman-', nominative 'brahmā' 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 a crown-like set of four, radiating ossicones.