International Conference on Veterinary Medicine and Animal Care

Nearly 17 million years ago, a relative of modern giraffes that roamed northern China sported a thick, stumpy neck and a thick skull — perfect for sparring with rival males in headbutting battles.

The newly-discovered giraffe relative, a now-extinct species named Discokeryx xiezhi, also had a bony, disk-like shield on the top of its skull, covered in a protective layer of keratin — the same type of tissue found in the horns of headbutters such as bulls and rams. The hard disk resembled a sort of squat helmet that sat atop the animal's head, scientists reported in a new analysis of several D. xiezhi fossils, published June 2 in the journal Science(opens in new tab). 

D. xiezhi likely bashed their "helmets" together during fights over mates, just as modern male giraffes fight over females by violently thwacking their necks together, using a combat style known as "necking," the researchers concluded.

"[The researchers] have provided unequivocal evidence that the Discokeryx fossil is beautifully adapted to intense head clashes," said Robert Simmons, a honorary research associate at the University of Cape Town's FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, who was not involved in the study. This trait must be sexually selected "since head-to-head clashes are intimately involved in male-male combat," Simmons told Live Science in an email. 

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