Sivatherium maurusium (POMEL, 1893)

Sivatherium is an extinct genus of Giraffid, a survivor of Miocene forms best known from Europe and Asia. It did not look like a Girafe, but rather like a giant stout antelope, with short neck and limbs, and long palmate horns, and probably fed on grasses: it had a wide snout like a moose. In contrast to many other species, its size decreased during the Pliocene.

It is the most common very large Mammal at Ahl al Oughlam, and the sample of limb-bones from Morocco is one of the largest known in Africa.

Reference: 1996 D.GERAADS - Le Sivatherium (Giraffidae, Mammalia) du Pliocène final d'Ahl al Oughlam et l'évolution du genre en Afrique. Paläontologische Zeitschrift, Stuttgart, 70 (3/4): 623-629.

Reconstruction attempt

Comparative measurements of upper teeth:

P2

P3

P4

M1

M2

M3
             

AaO-274

31.5 x 36.7

30.5 x 36

32 x 42.8

39 x 46.2-

45.5 x 45.5

45 x 43.7

AaO-3013

      

45.5 x 44

(52) x 43

45 x 42.5

AaO-3256

        

45 x -

43.7 x 40.5

AaO-3448 (M1 or M2)

       

43 x 43

  

Peninj (Geraads, 1987)

30.5 x 35

33 x 38

35 x 42

47 x 49

52 x 48

  

KNM-ER 797

32 x 39

34 x 42

34 x 45

50 x 50

51 x 52

49.5 x 45

KNM-ER 1215

30.6 x 35

  

33 x 42.5

52.5 x 45.5

50 x 50.5

53.5 x 43.5

(Harris, 1976)

           

Aïn Hanech

 

33 x 39

36 x 46

46 x 43

  

52 x 52

Ichkeul, Brimba (Arambourg, 1979)

 

38 x 45

 

50 x 48

   

Laetoli 1949 (Harris, 1987)

   

36.5 x 46

43.5 x 48

40.7 x 42.7

  

Langebaan (Harris, 1976)

33 x 44.5

34.2 x 41.5

46.7 x 51.6

53.2 x 54.2

52 x 49.5

  

adult maxilla:

Decrease in size (height x width) of the astragalus during the Pliocene:  
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