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Sivatherium was a genus of giraffids that had large, elaborate ossicones that have given it comparisons to modern day moose. Unlike bone derived antlers, however, the ossicones of giraffids are made from ossified cartilage and not bone, and retain the fur and skin covering, where as deer shed their velvet. Sivatheres lived throughout Africa and southeastern Asia, and may have lived as recently as 8000 years ago, as evidenced by rock paintings that seem to depict a very similar creature. It would have looked like a very large okapi (around seven feet tall at the shoulder). Interestingly, throughout most of its scientific history, there has been a heated debate: did it have a trunk?
The first skull depicted is that of modern giraffes, and the center is Sivatherium. The final skull is a tapir’s, a modern day animal with a trunk. When all three skulls are compared, one can see why scientists think Sivatherium could have had a trunk. It is the writer’s opinion, however, that Sivatherium did not. The likelihood is that Sivatherium instead had perhaps a sort of inflated, fleshy nose, as depicted by this reconstruction:
Such a nose would likely be used for amplifying calls, perhaps especially during mating season, or even be inflated for a warning or mating display. It is also likely that such a nose would aid the animal in cooling itself in the hot climate it evolved in. If both uses were true, the nose may have even had a bright, colorful display when inflated and filled with blood. In this scenario, they would also likely have had highly flexible lips that would aid in browsing.
