Samotherium fossil map
Where fossils of Samotherium have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 5 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 23.04–2.58 million years ago (Aquitanian to Piacenzian) |
| Periods | Neogene |
| Family | Giraffidae |
| Named by | Forsyth Major 1888 |
| Fossil records | 92 occurrences at 36 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Greece, China, Türkiye, Egypt, Kenya, Algeria, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Iraq … |
| Rock formations | txn:42690, Mytilinii, Muluk, Upper Koru Series, Gusar suite, Bou Hanifia |
About Samotherium
Samotherium ("beast of Samos") is an extinct genus belonging to the family Giraffidae from the Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia and Africa. Samotherium had two ossicones on its head and possessed long legs. The ossicones usually pointed upward, and were curved backwards, with males having larger, more curved ossicones, though in the Chinese species, S. sinense, the straight ossicones point laterally, not upwards. The genus is closely related to Shansitherium. Fossil evidence suggests that Samotherium had a rounded muzzle, which would suggest a grazing lifestyle and a habitat composed of grassland. One common predator of this animal was the Amphimachairodus.
Biologist Richard Ellis has proposed that the skull of Samotherium is portrayed on an ancient Greek vase as a monster that Heracles is fighting. However, other authors have argued that it is more likely to be the skull of a monitor lizard instead.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Samotherium (revision 1377199486), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q1046542.
