Data from: The extinct, giant giraffid Sivatherium giganteum: skeletal reconstruction and body mass estimation

Sivatherium giganteum is an extinct giraffid from the Plio–Pleistocene
boundary of the Himalayan foothills. To date, there has been no rigorous
skeletal reconstruction of this unusual mammal. Historical and
contemporary accounts anecdotally state that Sivatherium rivalled the
African elephant in terms of its body mass, but this statement has never
been tested. Here, we present a three-dimensional composite skeletal
reconstruction and calculate a representative body mass estimate for this
species using a volumetric method. We find that the estimated adult body
mass of 1246 kg (857—1812 kg range) does not approach that of an African
elephant, but confirms that Sivatherium was certainly a large giraffid,
and may have been the largest ruminant mammal that has ever existed. We
contrast this volumetric estimate with a bivariate scaling estimate
derived from Sivatherium's humeral circumference and find that there
is a discrepancy between the two. The difference implies that the humeral
circumference of Sivatherium is greater than expected for an animal of
this size, and we speculate this may be linked to a cranial shift in
centre of mass.