Answer:
GIRAFFE (KAMELOPARDALIS)
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 8. 69 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"The Aethiopes (Ethiopians) give the name of Nabun to one that has a neck like a horse, feet and legs like an ox, and a head like a camel, and is of a ruddy colour picked out with white spots, owing to which it is called a Camelopardalis (Giraffe); it was first seen at Rome at the games in the Circus given by Caesar when dictator. From this it has subsequently been recognised to be more remarkable for appearance than for ferocity, and consequently it has also got the name of ‘wild sheep.’"
KAMELOPARDALIS Giraffes, the semi-legendary "camel-leopards", were only known to the ancients from fanciful travellers' tales prior to the introduction of a captive specimen in the Roman Circus.
Camelopardalis is a large but faint constellation of the northern sky representing a giraffe. The constellation was introduced in 1612 or 1613 by Petrus Plancius. Some older astronomy books give Camelopardalus or Camelopardus as alternative forms of the name, but the version recognized by the International Astronomical Union matches the genitive form, seen suffixed to most of its key stars.
