Pakistani paleontologists have uncovered a new genus and species of a prehistoric relative of the giraffe from the Miocene period.
Blamiscus Micro It lived in what is now northern Pakistan about 9 million years ago (Miocene epoch).
This prehistoric species Giraffeare a large family of ruminant, artiodactyla mammals that share a common ancestor with deer and bovids and that include modern-day giraffes and okapis.
Blamiscus Micro Probably two pairs Bone horn (horn-like protrusions) on its head.
“Blamiscus Micro “This giraffe probably possessed two pairs of antlers that differed in size, orientation and ornamentation from those of other early and middle Miocene giraffids and giraffiniformes,” Dr Maria Rios from the New University of Lisbon and her colleagues wrote in the paper.
Skull, teeth, and remains after the skull Blamiscus Micro The fossils were discovered at the Dok bun Amir Khatun (Chinji Formation) fossil site in Chakwal district, Punjab province, Pakistan. Additional fossils were identified from the Hasvard Siwaliks collection.
“Early Miocene giraffids are less diverse and abundant than their Late Miocene counterparts, with most of the evidence coming from the Chinji Formation of Pakistan,” the paleontologists write.
“Giraffidae remains have also been found in the Kalodir, Ropelot and Mol Olot Hills of the Losidok Formation of West Turkana, Kenya, on Rusinga Island in the Hiwegi Formation of Kenya, and at Gebel Zelten in Libya.”
“The genera known from the Early Miocene are Progirafa and Canthomerix” they added.
“By the Middle Miocene, several more species (e.g. Ginger-leaf lily, giraffe) Adaptive radiation then occurred, with several more giraffidae species occurring in the Chinji Formation of Pakistan, Fort Ternan in Kenya, and on the island of Chios in Greece, with many more species found in Africa and the Middle East.
Blamiscus Micro It coexisted simultaneously with other giraffes. Progirafa exigua, Ginger-leaf lily, giraffe, giraffeand other species yet to be named.
“Our specimen is the oldest record of a giraffe with true bony horns in the Indian subcontinent,” the researchers concluded.
their paper Published online in the journal Paleoniologia Electronica.
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Maria Rios others2024. New Kirin Blamiscus Micro A new genus and species (Ruminant, Giraffidae) discovered from the Miocene of northern Pakistan. Paleoniologia Electronica 27(2):a29; Source: 10.26879/1243
Source: www.sci.news
