[petelamana (OP)]

I read that giraffes have no fossilized evolutionary past.  Is this true?  If so, what does the evolutionary tree look like for the four different species and their subspecies?

[Kryptid]

Fossil giraffids are known, such as Samotherium, Shansitherium and Paleotragus. Their necks were longer than that of the okapi but shorter than that of the giraffe.

[chris]

Fossil giraffids are known, such as Samotherium, Shansitherium and Paleotragus. Their necks were longer than that of the okapi but shorter than that of the giraffe.

When do they date from?

[petelamana (OP)]

Thank you Chris.  Good question.

Based upon Kyptid's reply I did a little additional research.  Here is what I found,

It seems that all three date back to the mid to late Miocene period, or  23.03 to 5.33 million years ago

I hope it helps.

[Ophiolite]

Wikipedia list twenty three giraffid genera, some of which contain multiple species. More than I expected, but that just reveals my ignorance about the state of Tertiary vertebrate palaeontology.