Sivatherium

Sivatherium; Temporal range: Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene, 7–0.8 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Reconstructed skeleton (missing lower jaw and tail) of Sivatherium giganteum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Infraclass:	Placentalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Subfamily:	†Sivatheriinae
Genus:	†Sivatherium; Falconer & Cautley, 1836
Type species
	†Sivatherium giganteum; Falconer & Cautley, 1836
Species
	†S. giganteum; †?S. hendeyi Harris, 1976; †S. maurusium; †S. proton Rios, 2022;
Synonyms
	†Libytherium

Sivatherium ("Shiva's beast", from Shiva and therium, Latinized form of Ancient Greek θηρίον - thēríon) is an extinct genus of giraffid that lived in India, Pakistan, Chad, Kenya, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Morocco, South Africa, Malawi, Kazakhstan, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda.^[3] The species Sivatherium giganteum is, by weight, one of the largest giraffids known, and also one of the largest ruminants of all time.^[4] Sivatherium originated during the Late Miocene (around 7 million years ago) in Africa and survived through to the late Early Pleistocene (Calabrian) until around 1 million years ago.^[5]

Description

Sivatherium resembled the modern okapi, but was far larger, and more heavily built, being about 2.2 m (7.2 ft) tall at the shoulder, 3 m (9.8 ft) in total height with a weight up to 400–500 kg (880–1,100 lb).^[6] A newer estimate has come up with an estimated average body mass of about 1,246 kg (2,747 lb),^[4] with a range of 857–1,812 kg (1,889–3,995 lb).^[7] This would make Sivatherium one of the largest known ruminants, rivalling the modern giraffe and the largest bovines. Sivatherium had a wide, antler-like pair of ossicones on its head, and a second pair of ossicones above its eyes. Its shoulders were very powerful to support the neck muscles required to lift the heavy skull. Sivatherium was initially misidentified as an archaic link between modern ruminants and the now obsolete, polyphyletic "pachyderms" (elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses and tapirs). The confusion arose in part due to its graviportal (robust) morphology, which was unlike anything else studied at that time.^[8]

Palaeobiology

A dental wear analysis of S. hendeyi from the Early Pliocene of South Africa found that the teeth were brachyodont, but had a higher hypsodonty than a giraffe, and that it was best classified as a mixed feeder, being able to both graze and browse.^[9] Analysis of dental microwear and mesowear paired with δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O measurements of S. maurusium from Ahl al Oughlam in western Morocco show it predominantly fed on C₃ vegetation.^[10]

Palaeopathology

The osteohistology of S. hendeyi specimens from the Langebaanweg site in South Africa shows numerous interruptions in growth related to extended, non-cyclical stress events likely related to drought, fire, or flooding that decreased food availability.^[11]

Paleoecology

Locations of fossils

Fossils attributed to Sivatherium are known from several localities in Eurasia and Africa.

Species	Formation	State	Continent
Sivatherium giganteum	Tatrot Formation^[12]^[13]	India	Asia
	Pinjor Formation^[13]		Asia
	Karewa formation ^[14]		Asia
	Nagrota Formation^[15]		Asia
Sivatherium hendeyi	Varswater Formation^[16]	South Africa	Africa
	Kanapoi Formation^[17]	Kenya	Africa
	Toros-Menalla (TM 266)^[18]	Chad	Africa
	Cigarron Formation^[19]	Spain	Europe
Sivatherium sp.	Chiwondo Beds^[20]	Malawi	Africa
	FLK I-Level 13^[21]	Tanzania	Africa
	Wembere-Manonga Formation^[22]	Tanzania	Africa
	Kaiso Village Formation^[23]	Uganda	Africa
	Konso^[24]	Ethiopia	Africa
	Adu-Asa Formation^[25]		Africa
	Bouri-Hata^[26]		Africa
	Douaria^[27]	Tunisia	Africa
	Lissasfa^[28]	Morocco	Africa
	Pinjor Formation^[29]^[30]	Pakistan	Asia
	Kuruksay^[31]	Tajikistan	Asia
	Pavlodar^[32]	Kazakhstan	Asia

Locations of some Sivatherium fossil discoveries, yellow represent S. giganteum, white represent S. hendeyi and Orange represents Sivatherium sp.

Relationship with humans

Remains of Sivatherium from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, dating to around 1.35 million years ago have been found associated with stone tools and bearing cut marks, indicating butchery by archaic humans, likely Homo erectus.^[5] Historically, it has been suggested that figurines from Sumer and ancient rock paintings in the Sahara^[8] and Central West India represent Sivatherium.^[33] However, these claims are not substantiated by fossil evidence (which suggest that the genus was extinct long before the emergence of modern humans), and the depictions likely represent other animals.^[34]

References

↑ Sivatherium in the Paleobiology Database
↑ Falconer, Hugh; Cautley, P. T. (1836). "Sivatherium giganteum, a new fossil ruminant genus, from the valley of the Markanda, in the Sivalik branch of the Sub-Himalayan Mountains". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal: 38–50.
↑ "The Paleobiology Database". Retrieved 4 May 2026.
1 2 Basu, Christopher; Falkingham, Peter L.; Hutchinson, John R. (January 2016). "The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation". Biology Letters. 12 (1) 20150940. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0940. PMC 4785933. PMID 26763212.
1 2 "Fossilworks: Sivatherium". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
↑ http://www.geocities.ws/rsn_biodata/Data/Sivatherium_giganteum.html (in Portuguese)
↑ Black, Riley (February 10, 2016). "The Biggest Giraffe of All Time". National Geographic. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
1 2 Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-84028-152-1.
↑ Franz-Odendaal, Tamara A. Solounias, Nikos. Comparative dietary evaluations of an extinct giraffid (Sivatherium hendeyi) (Mammalia, Giraffidae, Sivatheriinae) from Langebaanweg, South Africa (Early Pliocene). OCLC 631971239.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Ramírez-Pedraza, Iván; Rivals, Florent; Tornero, Carlos; Geraads, Denis; Raynal, Jean Paul; Lefèvre, David; Mohib, Abderrahim (1 November 2023). "Palaeoecological reconstruction of Plio-Pleistocene herbivores from the Ahl al Oughlam site (Casablanca, Morocco): Insights from dental wear and stable isotopes". Quaternary Science Reviews. 319 108341. Bibcode:2023QSRv..31908341R. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108341. Retrieved 14 November 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
↑ Jannello, Juan Marcos; Chinsamy, Anusuya (6 February 2023). "Osteohistology and palaeobiology of giraffids from the Mio‐Pliocene Langebaanweg (South Africa)". Journal of Anatomy. 242 (5): 953–971. doi:10.1111/joa.13825. ISSN 0021-8782. PMC 10093165. PMID 36748181. Retrieved 7 November 2025 – via Wiley Online Library.
↑ Kumar, Suresh (18 April 2022). "New fossils of Sivatherium giganteum (Giraffidae, Mammalia) from the Upper Siwaliks of the Indian Subcontinent". Acta Palaeontologica Romaniae. 18 (2): 85–92. doi:10.35463/j.apr.2022.02.04.
1 2 Gaur, R.; Chopra, S. (22 March 1984). "Taphonomy, fauna, environment and ecology of Upper Siwaliks (Plio-Pleistocene) near Chandigarh, India". Nature. 308: 353–355. doi:10.1038/308353a0.
↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226021321_Early_Pleistocene_Mammalian_Faunas_of_India_and_Evidence_of_Connections_with_Other_Parts_of_the_World
↑ Basu, P. K. (2004). "Siwalik mammals of the Jammu Sub-Himalaya, India: an appraisal of their diversity and habitats". Quaternary International. 117: 105–118.
↑ Denys, C. (1991). Un nouveau rongeur Mystromys pocockei sp. nov. (Cricetinae) de Pliocene inferieur de Langebaanweg (Region du Cap, Afrique du Sud). C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, t. 313, Serie II: p. 1335-1341
↑ Geraads, D & Bobe, R. (2020). Ruminants (Giraffidae and Bovidae) from Kanapoi. Journal of Human Evolution 140:102383
↑ Vignaud, P.; Duringer, P.; Mackaye, H. T.; Likius, A.; Blondel, C.; Boisserie, J.-R.; Bonis, L.; Elsenmann, V.; Etienne, M.-E.; Geraads, D.; Guy, F.; Lehmann, T.; Lihoreau, F.; Martinez, N. L.-L.; Mourer-Chauvier, C.; Otero, O.; Rage, J.-C.; Schuster, M.; Viriot, L.; Zazzo, A.; Brunet, M. (2002). "Geology and paleontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla hominid locality, Chad". Nature 418:152-155
↑ P. Pinero, J. Agusti, O. Oms, I. Fierro, P. Montoya, S. Mansino, F. Ruiz-Sanchez, D. M. Alba, M. T. Alberdi, H.-A. Blain, C. Laplana, J. Made, A. V. Mazo, J. Morales, X. Murelaga, A. Perez-Garcia, F. Perez-Valera, J. A. Perez-Valera, P. Sevilla, J. M. Soria, and G. Romero. 2017. Early Pliocene continental vertebrate Fauna at Puerto de la Cadena (SE Spain) and its bearing on the marine-continental correlation of the Late Neogene of Eastern Betics. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
↑ Bromage, T. G.; Schrenk, F.; Juwayeyi, Y. M. (1995). "Paleobiogeography of the Malawi Rift: Age and vertebrate paleontology of the Chiwondo Beds, northern Malawi". Journal of Human Evolution 28:37-57
↑ Leakey, M. D. (1971). "Olduvai Gorge: Excavations in Beds I and II, 1960-1963". Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 3
↑ Harrison, T. & Mbago, M. L. (1997). "Intoduction: Paleontological and Geological Research in the Manonga Valley, Tanzania. In T. Harrison (ed.), Neogene Paleontology of the Manonga Valley, Tanzania". Plenum Press, New York and London 1-32
↑ Senut, B.; Pickford, M.; Ssemmanda, I.; Elepu, D.; Obwona, P. (1987). "Decouverte du premier Homininae dans le Pleistocene de Nyabusosi". Comptes Rendus Acad. des Sci.,serie II 305(9):819-822
↑ B. Asfaw, Y. Beyene, and G. Suwa, R. Walter, T. White, G. WoldeGabriel, T. Yemane. (1992). "The earliest Acheulean from Konso-Gardula". Nature 360:732-735
↑ Y. HaileSelassie, G. Woldegabriel, and TD White, RL Bernor, D. Degusta, PR Renne, WK Hart, E. Vrba, A. Stanley, FC Howell. 2004. "Mio-Pliocene Mammals from the Middle Awash, Ethiopia". Geobios 37:536-552
↑ B. Asfaw, Y. Beyene, and G. Suwa, R. Walter, T. White, G. WoldeGabriel, T. Yemane. (1992). "The earliest Acheulean from Konso-Gardula". Nature 360:732-735
↑ F. Roman and M. Solignac. (1934). "Découverte d'un gisement de Mammifères pontiens à Douaria (Tunisie septentrionale)". Comptes Rendus a l'academie des sciences 199(26):1649-1650
↑ J.P. Raynal, D. Lefevre, D. Geraads and M. El Graoui. (1999). "Contribution du site paleontologique de Lissasfa (Casablanca, maroc) a une nouvelle interpretation du Mio-Pliocene de la Meseta". Comptes Rendues de l'Academie des Sciences, Paris, Sciences de la terre et des planetes 329:617-622
↑ A. A. Khan and M. Sarwar. 2002. A new Indratherium fossil giraffe Indratherium compressus sp. nov. from Siwalik Formations of Pakistan. Journal of Research (Science) 13(2):139-144
↑ R. W. Dennell, R. Coard, and A. Turner. (2008). "Predators and scavengers in Early Pleistocene southern Asia". Quaternary International 192(1): 78-88
↑ M.V. Sotnikova, A.E. Dodonov, and A.V. Pen'kov. (1997). "Upper Cenozoic bio-magnetic stratigraphy of Central Asian mammalian localities". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 133:243-258
↑ J. A. Orlov. (1930). "Neue Funde fossiler Säugetiere in Sibirien (New fossil Mammals from Sibiria)". Trudy geologiceskogo museja akademii nauk SSSR 7:159-166
↑ "Rock paintings show species that roamed India". www.newindianexpress.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
↑ Naish, Darren (April 25, 2011). "What happened with that Sumerian 'sivathere' figurine after Colbert's paper of 1936? Well, a lot". Tetrapod Zoology.