The earliest ossicone and post-cranial record of Giraffa

Giraffes left surprisingly familiar bones in ancient Pakistan. Their headgear and lower legs already carried features recognisable in living giraffes, long before the animals' present African distribution. Teeth had previously suggested an early presence of the genus in the region; other parts of the skeleton offered a separate way to test that history.

Melinda Danowitz, John Barry and Nikos Solounias examined three fossil finds collected in Pakistan's Siwalik deposits: an ankle bone, two fragments of one long foot bone, and an ossicone, the bony structure beneath a giraffe's horn. The fossils came from deposits dated to approximately 9.4, 8.9 and 8.1 million years ago. Comparisons with museum specimens of modern giraffes focused on the shapes of joint surfaces, grooves and the horn's attachment area.

All three finds combined features supporting their assignment to Giraffa. The horn, for example, had the detached, textured base expected in a young animal before fusion to its skull. These were the oldest reported non-dental remains of the genus when the paper appeared. Because the fossils came from separate finds, the researchers could not establish whether they represented one species. Nor do these bones reveal neck length: they extend the history of identifiable giraffes without reconstructing a complete ancient animal.