The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation.
The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation.
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DOI：
10.1098/rsbl.2015.0940
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发表时间：
2016-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Hutchinson JR
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Basu C;Falkingham PL;Hutchinson JR
Sivatherium giganteum是一种已经灭绝的长颈鹿，生活在喜马拉雅山麓的上新世-更新世边界。到目前为止，还没有对这种不寻常的哺乳动物进行严格的骨骼重建。历史和当代的轶事都表明，Sivatherium在体重方面可以与非洲象相媲美，但这种说法从未得到证实。在这里，我们提出了一个三维复合骨骼重建和计算一个代表性的体重估计为该物种使用体积法。我们发现估计的成年体重为1246公斤（857-1812公斤范围），与非洲象的体重相差甚远，但证实了Sivatherium肯定是一只大型长颈鹿，并且可能是有史以来最大的反刍哺乳动物。我们将这种体积估计与从Sivatherium的肱骨周长得出的二元缩放估计进行对比，发现两者之间存在差异。这种差异意味着Sivatherium的肱骨周长比这种大小的动物的预期周长要大，我们推测这可能与头盖骨重心的转移有关。
Sivatherium giganteum is an extinct giraffid from the Plio–Pleistocene boundary of the Himalayan foothills. To date, there has been no rigorous skeletal reconstruction of this unusual mammal. Historical and contemporary accounts anecdotally state that Sivatherium rivalled the African elephant in terms of its body mass, but this statement has never been tested. Here, we present a three-dimensional composite skeletal reconstruction and calculate a representative body mass estimate for this species using a volumetric method. We find that the estimated adult body mass of 1246 kg (857—1812 kg range) does not approach that of an African elephant, but confirms that Sivatherium was certainly a large giraffid, and may have been the largest ruminant mammal that has ever existed. We contrast this volumetric estimate with a bivariate scaling estimate derived from Sivatherium's humeral circumference and find that there is a discrepancy between the two. The difference implies that the humeral circumference of Sivatherium is greater than expected for an animal of this size, and we speculate this may be linked to a cranial shift in centre of mass.