Honanotherium

Honanotherium is a genus of extinct giraffid from the late Miocene of Henan Province, China, and East Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran.^[2][1] It was closely related to Bohlinia and was once thought to be ancestral to the modern giraffe (genus Giraffa). The living animal would have resembled a modern giraffe, but was somewhat shorter, with more massive ossicones.

Honanotherium Temporal range: Late Miocene
Mounted skeleton in Henan Geological Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Giraffidae
Genus:	†Honanotherium Bohlin, 1927
Species
H. schlosseri Bohlin, 1927 H. bernori Solounias & Danowitz, 2016[1]

The first part of the generic name, honano refers to the Henan (Chinese: 河南; pinyin: Hénán) province of China, where the first specimens were recovered. The second part, therium, comes from the Greek, θηρίον which means "beast."

Paleobiology

Life restoration of H. schlossheri

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.