Samotherium

Samotherium Temporal range: Miocene to Pliocene, 11.608–2.588  Ma [1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Samotherium skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Genus:	† Samotherium Forsyth Major, 1888
Species
S. africanumChurcher, 1970 S. boissieriForsyth-Major, 1889 (type) S. majorBohlin, 1926 S. neumayriRodler and Weithofer, 1890 S. sinenseBohlin, 1926

Samotherium ("beast of Samos") is an extinct genus belonging to the family Giraffidae from the Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia and Africa. ^[1] Samotherium had two ossicones on its head and possessed long legs. The ossicones usually pointed upward, and were curved backwards, with males having larger, more curved ossicones, though in the Chinese species, S. sinense, the straight ossicones point laterally, not upwards. The genus is closely related to Shansitherium . Fossil evidence suggests that Samotherium had a rounded muzzle, which would suggest a grazing lifestyle and a habitat composed of grassland. One common predator of this animal was the Amphimachairodus . ^[2]

Biologist Richard Ellis has proposed that the skull of Samotherium is portrayed on an ancient Greek vase as a monster that Heracles is fighting. ^[3] However, other authors have argued that it is more likely to be the skull of a monitor lizard instead. ^[4]

Description

Samotherium major (middle) in comparison with the okapi (below) and giraffe. The anatomy of Samotherium appears to have shown a transition to a giraffe-like neck.

S. major and S. boissieri

A 2015 study found that Samotherium had a neck intermediate in length between the giraffe and the okapi, judging from examination of specimens of S. major from Greece. ^[5]

Distribution

The species S. major is known from Romania, ^[6] Greece, ^[5] and Turkey. ^[7]

References

1. "†Samotherium Forsyth Major 1888". Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
2. Walker, Cyril; Ward, David (2002). Fossils (2nd American ed.). Dorling Kindersley. p. 280. ISBN   0-7894-8984-8.
3. Ellis, Richard (2004). No Turning Back: The Life and Death of Animal Species . New York: Harper Perennial. pp.  6. ISBN   0-06-055804-0.
4. Monge-Nájera, Julián (2020-01-31). "Evaluation of the hypothesis of the Monster of Troy vase as the earliest artistic record of a vertebrate fossil". Uniciencia. 34 (1): 147–151. doi: 10.15359/ru.34-1.9 . ISSN   2215-3470.
5. Danowitz, Melinda; Domalski, Rebecca; Solounias, Nikos (1 November 2015). "The cervical anatomy of Samotherium, an intermediate-necked giraffid". Royal Society Open Science . 2 (11): 150521. Bibcode:2015RSOS....250521D. doi:10.1098/rsos.150521. PMC   4680625 . PMID   26716010.
6. Ţibuleac, P.; Laskos, K.; Răţoi, B.-G.; Haiduc, B.S.; Merlan, V.; Ursachi, L. (February 2025). "A link of the Late Miocene giraffid migration pathway from the peri-Aegean lands to the northeastern Eurasian areas" . Geobios . 88–89: 251–263. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.012 . Retrieved 20 August 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
7. Konidaris, George E.; Aytek, Ahmet Ihsan; Kostopoulos, Dimitris S.; Yavuz, Alper Yener; Tarhan, Erhan; Alçiçek, Mehmet Cihat; Uyar, Nail; Harvati, Katerina (23 July 2025). "Kayaca, a new vertebrate locality from the Upper Miocene of Türkiye and its importance for the Turolian biogeography of the eastern peri-Mediterranean region". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. doi:10.1007/s12549-025-00666-1. ISSN   1867-1594 . Retrieved 7 September 2025– via Springer Nature Link.