Honanotherium is a genus of extinct giraffid from the late Miocene of Henan Province, China, and East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran.[1][2] It was closely related to Bohlinia and was once thought to be ancestral to the modern giraffe (genusGiraffa). The living animal would have resembled a modern giraffe, but was somewhat shorter, with more massive ossicones.
The first part of the generic name, honano refers to the Henan (Шаблон:Zh) province of China, where the first specimens were recovered. The second part, therium, comes from the Greek, θηρίον which means "beast."
Like the modern-day giraffe, Honanotherium may have grazed on low-lying trees in the savannah environment, although its shorter neck shows that it probably fed on different plants than the extant giraffe.
↑Bohlin, B. 1927. Die Familie Giraffidae. Pal. Sinica, Ser. C, IV, Fasc. 1, various pages.
↑Nikos Solounias and Melinda Danowitz (2016). "The Giraffidae of Maragheh and the identification of a new species of Honanotherium". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. in press. doi:10.1007/s12549-016-0230-7.
