''Injanatherium'' is an extinct genus of
giraffids from the Miocene of
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
,
[HEINTZ, E., M. BRUNET, and S. SEN. "A NEW GIRAFFID FROM IRAQ UPPER MIOCENE INJANATHERIUM-HAZIMI NG N-SP." COMPTES RENDUS DE L ACADEMIE DES SCIENCES SERIE III-SCIENCES DE LA VIE-LIFE SCIENCES 292.4 (1981): 357-360.] Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...
,
[Morales, J., D. Soria, and H. Thomas. "Les Giraffidae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) d'Al Jadidah du Miocène moyen de la Formation Hofuf (province du hasa, arabie saoudite)." Geobios 20.4 (1987): 441-467.] and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. Species of ''Injanatherium'' had at least two pairs of long, wing-like
ossicone
Ossicones are columnar or conical skin-covered bone structures on the heads of giraffes, male okapi, and some of their extinct relatives. Ossicones are distinguished from the superficially similar structures of horns and antlers by their uniqu ...
s that emanated laterally above the
orbits
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a ...
.
Species
''I. hazimi''
''I. hazimi'' is the type species, originally described by Heintz, et al., in 1981, on the basis of a partial skull found in middle Miocene-aged strata of Injana, Iraq, about 140 km north of
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesipho ...
.
The ossicones are broad and more massive in comparison to ''I. arabicum''.
''I. arabicum''
''I. arabicum'' is a second species initially described from a partial skull from early Miocene-aged strata of Saudi Arabia, then later from material found in similarly aged strata from Pakistan. Its ossicones are more triangular and less massive in comparison to ''I. hazimi''.
References
External links
''Injanatherium''at the
Paleobiology Database
The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms.
History
The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Paleo ...
Prehistoric giraffes
Miocene even-toed ungulates
Neogene animals of Asia
Prehistoric even-toed ungulate genera
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