Giraffa jumae

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Giraffa jumae
Temporal range: 5.3–0.126  Ma
Giraffa jumae.JPG
Skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Genus: Giraffa
Species:
G. jumae
Binomial name
Giraffa jumae
Leakey, 1967

Giraffa jumae is an extinct species of even-toed ungulate in the Giraffidae family. The species ranged from Malawi to Chad with a possible occurrence of the species or a closely related species found in Turkey. The type specimen was discovered during trenching excavations on the upper member of the Rawi Formation by Louis Leakey in the 1930s. [2] The specimen was found with Ceratotherium simum , Suidae such as Metridiochoerus andrewsi , a Hippopotamus gorgops , and a nearly complete pygmy hippopotamus mandible. [2]

Restoration of G. jumae (top left) and other ungulates from the Pliocene of eastern Africa, by Mauricio Anton Ungulates from the Pliocene of eastern Africa.jpg
Restoration of G. jumae (top left) and other ungulates from the Pliocene of eastern Africa, by Mauricio Antón

The species is considered a possible ancestor to the modern giraffes. [3]

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References

  1. Giraffa jumae, The Paleobiology Database
  2. 1 2 Frost, Stephen R.; Plummer, Thomas; Bishop, Laura C.; Ditchfield, Peter; Ferraro, Joseph; Hicks, Jason (2003), "Partial Cranium of Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982 From Rawi Gully, Southwestern Kenya", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 122 (3): 191–199, doi:10.1002/ajpa.10279, PMID   14533178
  3. Simmons, R. E.; Scheepers, L. (1996), "Winning by a neck: sexual selection in the evolution of giraffe", The American Naturalist, 148 (5): 771–786, doi:10.1086/285955, S2CID   84406669