The qilin is a sacred beast in Chinese legendary culture, and whether there is a prototype in the animal needs to be explored. Until the Ming Dynasty, foreign tribute to a giraffe, because the giraffe's form and habits are too consistent with the qilin described in ancient Chinese books, so many Chinese convinced that the giraffe is a unicorn, if in earlier times, people who have not seen giraffes have depicted the unicorn, then where is the origin of the prototype of the unicorn? To know whether a native ancient giraffe in China, the Shanxi Beast, is close to the Qilin Divine Beast?
A total of four complete fossils of Shanxi beasts have been found, three of which are collected in the Beijing Museum of Natural History, according to the location of the fossil discovery of Shanxi beasts, this prehistoric giraffe found in Shanxi, China, so the naming is also very Chinese characteristics of the name - Shanxi beast, this ancient giraffe is a giraffe native to China, is living in the Miocene stratigraphic era in Shanxi.
According to the Shanxi beast fossils, restore the Shanxi beast map: the height of the ancient giraffe may be disappointing, the ancient giraffe is not only not taller than the current giraffe, not half the height of the current giraffe, it is speculated that the body length of the ancient giraffe is about 2.7 meters, the height is about 3 meters, the weight is about 500 kg, the ancient giraffe is more like the current short version of the giraffe, even the giraffe is not obvious, more like the current African Okapi, rather than the current giraffe.
For paleontology, some people think that it is universally giant, there are giant paleontology, but if paleontology is huge, it is a misunderstanding of paleontology cognition, in fact, many paleontology is not large. In the Miocene strata of Shanxi, which is about 23 million years old, the ancient giraffe has the advantage of long neck, long neck and long legs compared with the animals of the same era, so with the long neck can always eat leaves that other animals cannot reach, so that Shanxi beasts have enough food sources, forming a herd of Shanxi beasts at that time.
How did the shanxi beasts with advantages disappear? It is speculated that the Shanxi beast has become extinct more than 5 million years ago, as for the reason for the disappearance, the relevant experts believe that it is due to changes in the environment and climate, this ancient giraffe did not adapt to the change in time, and eventually led to the disappearance of the Shanxi beast.
What is the relationship between the ancient Shanxi beast and the modern giraffe? There are views that Shanxi beasts are the ancestors of modern giraffes, and there are also opposing views that Shanxi beasts and modern giraffes are not directly related, at most distant cousins, as to which view is closer, more evidence is needed.
Species evolution of giraffes: The giraffe family is the most unique class in the order Even-hoofed, the giraffe family exists only in Africa, there are 2 species, and the prehistoric giraffe is more widely distributed, can be divided into the paleolin subfamily, the giraffe subfamily and the subfamily Of the West Wagtails. The paleolin subfamily is the primitive type of giraffe family, small in size, short in limbs and neck, living in forests, and widely distributed in prehistoric times, which can also be seen in China!
Pay attention to the six dimensions of nature And let nature know nature!