First occurrence of Sivatherium Falconer and Cautley, 1836 (Mammalia, Ruminantia, Giraffidae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

he sivatherine clade includes some of the largest giraffids and emerged during the late Miocene. Sivatherium hendeyi, the earliest known species of the Sivatherium genus, was first described from the lower Pliocene of Langebaanweg (5.15 ± 0.1 Ma, Cape Province, South Africa). Here we describe the first possible occurrence of Sivatherium from western Europe from the lower Pliocene (MN14) of Puerto de la Cadena (4.9 Ma, Murcia, Spain). The new material consists of dental and postcranial remains. The Puerto de la Cadena Sivatherium, together with the presence of Macaca sp. and Debruijnimys sp., indicates a connection between African and European faunas during the early Pliocene and a possible relationship between Sivatherium and the stem Iberian sivatherines Decennatherium and Birgerbohlinia.