Native-Born Long-Necked Giraffe, Resembling Hoga-k’d, Height Disappoints, Shanxi Beast Origin from Shanxi Animal?
The Kirin is a divine beast in Chinese legendary culture, and whether it has a prototype in animals still needs to be explored. Until the Ming Dynasty, foreign countries presented a giraffe to China. Because the giraffe's form and habits matched the Kirin described in Chinese ancient texts, it made many Chinese people believe that the giraffe was the Kirin. If there were no giraffes seen in earlier times, people depicted the Kirin. Where did the prototype of the Kirin come from? To recognize a native Kirin –Shanxi Beast, whether it is close to the Kirin God Beast
A total of four complete Shanxi Beast fossils were discovered, three of which are collected in the Beijing Natural History Museum. According to the location where the Shanxi Beast fossils were discovered in China, which is in Shanxi Province, this prehistoric giraffe has a very Chinese-style name – Shanxi BeastThis ancient giraffe is a native giraffe of ChinaIt lived in the Shanxi Province during the Middle Miocene period of the late Miocene epoch.
According to the Shanxi Beast fossils, reconstruction of the Shanxi Beast figure: The height of the ancient giraffe may disappoint people. The ancient giraffe is not taller than the current giraffe, and it is not even half as tall as the current giraffe. It is estimated that the length of the ancient giraffe is about 2.7 meters and the height is about 3 meters, and the weight is about 500 kilograms. The ancient giraffe is more like a miniature version of a giraffe, and its neck is not very obvious.It is more like the Hoga-k'd in AfricaNot like the current giraffe.
Regarding paleontology, some people believe that there are generally large-sized dinosaurs, but if all dinosaurs are large, thenA misunderstanding of paleontological recognitionIn fact, many ancient dinosaurs are not large. About 23 million years ago, the Shanxi Miocene ancient giraffe was also relatively long-necked and long-necked compared to animals of the same period, so it could reach the leaves that other animals could not reach with its long neck, which provided the Shanxi Beast with sufficient food sources and formed herds of Shanxi Beasts.
How did the advantage of the Shanxi Beast disappear? According to speculationThe Shanxi Beast went extinct about 500,000 years agoAs for the reasons for its disappearance, experts analyzed that it was due to changes in the environment and climate. The ancient giraffe did not adapt to the changes in time, which eventually led to the disappearance of the Shanxi Beast.
What is the relationship between the ancient Shanxi Beast and the modern giraffe? Some people believe that the Shanxi Beast is the ancestor of the modern giraffe, while others disagree, it may only be a distant relativeAt most, it's a distant relativeAs for which view is closer, more evidence is needed.
The evolution of the Giraffe Family: The Giraffe Family is one of the most unique families in the Artiodactyl order, the Giraffe Family currently exists in only two species, andPrehistoric giraffes were distributed widelyThey were divided into the Kirin subfamily, the Giraffe subfamily and the Xiaowan Beast subfamily. The Kirin subfamily is the primitive type of the Giraffe Family, with a small body, short limbs and short neck, and lived in forests. They were distributed widely in prehistoric times, and could be seen in China!
Pay attention to six-dimensional nature, follow the flow of nature and recognize nature!
