Pleistocene mammals of north america pdf

Continue Subscription and order Prices To buy short-term access, please sign up to your Oxford Academic Account above. You don't have an academic account at Oxford yet? Registration of the Pleistocene Mammals of North America - 24 hours of access Start your review of the Pleistocene mammals of North America Very, very dry and actual so don't worry if you're passionately interested in Pleistocene mammals, or assignments comparing the fauna of the Hell Creek Formation with the Pleistocene fauna... and what are the chances of that? Useful reference book, now, alas, a little outdated. End of big beasts Who or what snuffed out megafauna 11,000 years ago? Holdings Description Comments Similar Items Staff Viewing similar items palorchestes (Museum of Victoria). In the second half of the Kenosoy era - about 50 million years ago until the end of the last ice age - prehistoric mammals were much larger (and alien) than their modern counterparts. On the following slides you will find photos and detailed profiles of more than 80 different giant mammals and megafauna that ruled the earth after the extinction of dinosaurs, ranging from Aepycamelus to Woolly Rhino. Epicomelus. Name of Heinrich Harder: Aepycamelus (Greek for high camel); pronounced AY-peeh-CAM-ell-us Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Medium-Late Miocene (15-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet tall on the shoulder and 1000-2000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Large Size; Long, giraffe-like legs and neck right off the bat, there are two strange things about Aepycamelus: first, this camel megafauna is more like a giraffe, with its long legs and slender neck, and secondly, it lived in the Miocene of North America (not a place that is usually associated with camels). Befitting his giraffe-like appearance, Aepycamelus spent most of his time nibbling leaves from tall trees, and since he lived long before the early humans no one ever tried to take him for a walk. Agrioarctictos. Wikimedia Commons name: Agriarctos (Greek for Dirty Bear); pronounced AG-ree-ARK-tose Habitat: Forests of Western Europe Historical Age: The Late Miocene (11 million years ago) Size and weight: About four feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Omnivorous distinctive characteristics: Small size; quad-core posture; Dark fur with white spots Is as rare as it is today, the ancestral tree of a giant panda stretches back to the Miocene era, more than 10 million years ago. Exhibit A is a newly discovered Agriarctos, a pint-sized (just 100 pounds or so) prehistoric bear who has spent most of his time scampering trees, either collecting nuts and fruit or shying away from the attention of large predators. Based on their limited fossil remains, paleontologists believe that Agriarctos possessed a layer of dark fur light spots around the eyes, belly and tail-in stark contrast to the giant panda, on the These two colors are much more evenly distributed. Agritheria. Getty Images Title: Agriotherium (Greek for Sour Beast); pronounced AG-ree-oh-thee-ree-um Habitat: Plains of North America, Eurasia and Africa Historical Period: Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene (10-2 million years ago) Size and weight: up to eight feet long and 1000-1500 pounds Diet: Omnivorous distinctive characteristics: Large size; Long legs; Dog-like build One of the largest bears that ever lived, the half-ton Agriotherium reached a surprisingly widespread distribution in the Miocene and Pliocene era, reaching to North America, Eurasia and Africa. Agriotherium was characterized by its relatively long legs (which gave it a vaguely doggy appearance) and a blunt snout dotted with massive, bony teeth - a hint that this prehistoric bear may have cleared the carcasses of other megafauna mammals rather than hunting live prey. Like modern bears, Agriotherium complemented its diet with fish, fruits, vegetables and almost any other type of digestible food it entered. Andrewsarch. The Andrewsarch's Jaws, the largest terrestrial mammal predator ever lived, were so huge and powerful that it was believed that this Eocene eater could bite through the shells of giant turtles. Arsinatherium. The name of the London Museum of Natural History: Arsinoitherium (in Greek Beast Arseno, in honor of the mythical queen of Egypt); pronounced ARE-sih-noy-thee-re-um Habitat: Plains of North Africa Historical Age: Late Eoc-Early Oligocene (35-30 million years ago) Size and weight: About 10 feet long and one ton diet: Plants featuring characteristics: Rhino-like trunk; two conical horns on the head; quad-core posture; primitive teeth Although it was not directly the ancestors of the modern rhino, Arsinoitherium (the name refers to the mythical Egyptian queen Arsenault) cut a very rhino-like profile, with its stumpy legs, squat trunk and herbivorous diet. However, what really set this prehistoric mammal apart from other megafauna of the Eocene era were two large, tapered, pointed horns protruding from the middle of the forehead, which were probably a sexually chosen characteristic rather than anything meant to intimidate predators (meaning that men with large, pointed horns had a better chance of pairing with females during the mating season). Arsinoitherium was also fitted with 44 flat, stumpy teeth in its jaws that were well adapted to the chewing of extra-hard plants in the Egyptian habitat about 30 million years ago. Astrap losses. Name of Dmitry Bogdanov: Astrapotherium (Greek lightning beast); pronounced AS-Trap-o-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of South America Historical Age: Early-Middle Miocene (23-15 Years Ago) Size and Weight: About Nine Feet Long and 500-1000 Pounds Diet: Plants Plants Characteristics: Long, squat trunk; Long neck and head During the Miocene era, South America was cut off from the rest of the continents of the world, resulting in the evolution of a strange array of mammals megafauna. Astraperia was a typical example: this hoofed hoofed (distant relative of horses) was like a cross between an elephant, a tapir and a rhino, with a short, preset trunk and powerful tusks. The nostrils of Astrapotherium were also set unusually high, a hint that this prehistoric herbivore may have haunted a partially amphibians lifestyle like a modern behemoth. (By the way, the name Astropotherium-Greek for the lightning-fast beast - seems particularly out of place for what must be a slow, heavy plant eater.) Oroch. The cave of Lascko Auroch is one of the few prehistoric animals to be celebrated in ancient rock paintings. As you might have guessed, this ancestor of modern cattle featured on the dinner menu of early humans that helped lead Auroch to extinction. Brontotherium. Nobu Tamura befits its resemblance to the duck-bill dinosaurs that preceded him tens of millions of years, the giant hooved mammal Brontotheria had an unusually small brain for its size, which may have made it ripe gathering for the eocene predators of North America. Camelops. Commons name: Camelops (Greek camel face); pronounced CAM-Ell-ops Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Era: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About seven feet tall and 500-1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; The thick trunk with a long-necked Camelops is known for two reasons: first, it was the last prehistoric camel to be indigenous in North America (until it hunted for the extinction of human settlers about 10,000 years ago), and secondly, a fossil specimen was discovered in 2007 during excavations for a Wal-Mart store in Arizona (hence the unofficial name of this man, Wal-Mart). Cave Bear (Wikimedia Commons). Cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) was one of the most common megafauna mammals of the Pleistocene in Europe. A surprising number of cave bear fossils have been discovered, and some caves in Europe have yielded literally thousands of bones. Cave goat. The name of the museum Cosmocaixa: Myotragus (Greek for mousetrap); pronounced MY-oh-TRAY-gus; Also known as the Cave goat Habitat: Mediterranean islands of Mallorca and Minoca Historical Era: Pleistocene-modern (2 million-5000 years ago) Size and weight: About four feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Relatively small size; eyes forward; perhaps a cold-blooded metabolism you may think it strange that a creature as ordinary and harmless as goats will make headlines around the world, but Myotragus deserves attention: according to one analysis, it's The cave goat adapted to the rare food of its island habitat by developing a cold-blooded metabolism similar to that of reptiles. (In fact, the authors of the paper compared the fossilized bones of Myotragus with the bones of modern reptiles, and found similar growth patterns.) As you would expect, not everyone adheres to the theory that Myotragus was a reptile-like metabolism (which would make it the first mammal in history to ever develop this strange trait). Most likely, it was just a slow, stocky, heavy, small-brained Pleistocene herbivore who had the luxury of not defending himself against natural predators. An important clue is that Myotragus were forward-eyed; such shepherds have wide-set eyes, the better to detect predators approaching from all sides. Cave Hyena. Commons, like other opportunistic predators from the Pleistocene era, Cave hyenas preyed on early humans and hominids, and they were not shy about stealing the hard-earned murders of flocks of Neanderthals and other large predators. Cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea). Heinrich Harder The Cave Lion came under his own name not because he lived in caves, but because pristine skeletons were found in cave bear habitats (Cave Lions preyed on sleeping cave bears, which must have seemed like a good idea until their prey woke up.) Dmitry Bogdanov Why would a one-ton megafauna mammal be named after a pebble rather than a boulder? Simple: The chalicico part of its name refers to pebbles like Chalicotherium teeth, which he used to grind down stiff vegetation. Shamitataxis (Nobu Tamura). Title: Chamitataxus (Greek taxon from Chamit); pronounced CAM-ee-tah-TAX-us Habitat: Forests of North America Historical Age: The Late Miocene (6 million years ago) Size and Weight: About one foot in length and one pound diet: Insects and small animals Distinctive characteristics: Slender assembly; The good smell and hearing of Chamitataxus goes against the general rule that every modern mammal had a plus-sized ancestor lurking millions of years ago in its ancestral tree. Somewhat disappointing, this Miocene-era badger was about the same size as its descendants today, and it seems to have behaved in much the same way, placing small animals with its excellent smell and hearing and killing them with a quick bite to the neck. Perhaps the small proportions of Chamitataxus can be explained by the fact that it coexisted with Taxidea, an American badger that still annoys homeowners now. Corifodon. Heinrich Harder Perhaps because effective predators were in short supply at the beginning of the Eocene era, Corifodon was a slow, lumbering beast, with an unusually small brain that beckons comparisons with its dinosaur predecessors. Doodon (Carnegie Museum of Natural History). Miocene Daeodon (formerly known as Dinohyus) was The size and weight of a modern rhino, with a wide, flat, warthog-like face complete with warts (actually meaty wattles supported by bone). Deinogalerix (Leiden Museum). Name: Deinogalerix (Greek for a horrible polecat); pronounced DIE-no-GAL-eh-rix Habitat: Woodlands of Western Europe Historical Epoch: Late Miocene (10-5 million years ago) Size and weight: about two feet long and 10 pounds Diet: Probably insects and carrion Distinctive characteristics: Large size; Rats like tail and legs It's true that most Miocene-era mammals have grown to plus sizes, but Deinogalerix-perhaps it should be better known as dino-eg-was an added stimulus: this prehistoric mammal seems to have been confined to several isolated islands off the southern coast of Europe, faithful to evolutionary giantism. About the size of a modern tabby cat, Deinogalerix probably made his life by feeding on insects and carcasses of dead animals. Although it was directly the ancestors of modern hedgehogs, for all intents and purposes Deinogalerix looked like a giant rat, with a bare tail and legs, a narrow snout, and (imaginable) common peskiness. Desmustilus. Getty Images Title: Desmostylus (Greek for chain post); pronounced DES-mo-STYLE-us Habitat: Shore Lines of the North Pacific Historical Era: Miocene (23-5 million years ago) Size and Weight: About six feet long and 500 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Hippo-like body; shovel-shaped tusks in the lower jaw If you occurred through Desmostylus 10 or 15 million years ago, you could be forgiven for mistakenly mistaking it for a direct ancestor of either a hippo or an elephant: this megafauna mammal was a thick, hippo-like body, and the shovel-shaped tusks protruding from the lower jaw resembled prehistoric trunks like Amebelodon. The fact is, however, that this semi-aquatic creature was a true evolutionary one-off, inhabiting its own obscure order, Desmostylia, on a mammalian tree. (Other members of this order include the really obscure but amusingly named, Behemotops, Cornwall and Kronokotherium.) It was once thought that Desmostylus and its equally strange relatives ate seaweed, but the more likely diet now seems to have been the wide range of marine vegetation surrounding the northern Pacific. Dodikur. Wikimedia Commons This slowly moving prehistoric battleship Doedicurus was not only covered in a large, domed, armored shell, but it possessed a baton, spiked tail similar to those of the ankylosaur and stegosaur dinosaurs that preceded it tens of millions of years. Elasmoerium (Dmitry Bogdanov). For all its size, voluminous and perceived aggressiveness, the one-horn Elasmotherium was a relatively gentle herbivore, and adapted to eating grass rather than leaves or shrubs, as evidenced by its heavy, oversized, flat teeth and and Cutters. Embolotherium. Sameer Prehistorica Name: Embotherium (Greek for beating a ram beast); pronounced EM-bo-low-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of Central Asia Historical Age: Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (35-30 million years ago) Size and weight: About 15 feet long and 1-2 tons Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; The wide, flat shield on the muzzle of Embotonia was one of the Central Asian members of a family of large herbivorous mammals known as brontothers (thunder beasts) who were ancient (and distant) relatives of the modern rhino. Of all the brontothers (which also included Brontotherium), emboloteria had the most distinctive horn, which actually looked more like a wide, flat shield sticking out of the end of the muzzle. Like all such animal accouterments, this strange structure may have been used to display and/or produce sounds, and this is undoubtedly a sexually chosen characteristic as well (meaning men with more visible nose ornaments mate with more females). Eobasileus (Charles R. Knight). Name: Eobasileus (Greek for the Dawn of the Emperor); pronounced EE-oh-bass-ih-LAY-us Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Epoch: Middle-Late Eocene (40-35 million years ago) Size and weight: about 12 feet long and one ton Diet: Plants that distinguish characteristics: Rhino-like body; Three match the horns on the skull; Short tusks for all intents and purposes, Eobasileus can be considered a slightly smaller version of the more famous Uintatherium, another prehistoric megafauna mammal that roamed the plains of the Eocene of North America. Like Uintatherium, Eobasileus cut out a vaguely rhino-shaped profile and exclusively knobby head sporting three matching pairs of blunt horns as well as short tusks. It is still unclear how these wintaters 40 million years ago were associated with modern herbivores; all we can say for sure and leave it to is that they were very large hoofed (hooved mammals). Eremoerium (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Eremotheria (Greek lonely beast); pronounced EH-reh-moe-thee-ree-um Habitat: Plains of North and South America Historical Age: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 20 feet long and 1-2 tons Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; The long, clawed hands of another of the giant sloths that prowled across America during the Pleistocene era, Eremotherium differs from the equally huge Megaterium in that it was technically land, not wood, laziness (and therefore more closely related to Megalonyx, a North American land sloth sloth discovered by Thomas Jefferson). Judging by his long arms and huge clawed hands, Eremotheria borrowed the crumpled and eating trees for life; it lasted well into the last ice age, but to be to the extinction of early human settlers of North and South America. Hernanodon. Hernanodon. Commons name: Hernanodon; pronounced er-NAN-oh-don Habitat: Plains of Central Asia Historical Age: Late Paleocene (57 million years ago) Size and Weight: About two feet long and 5-10 pounds Diet: Insects Distinctive characteristics: Small size; Long claws on the front hands Sometimes, all it takes to propel obscure prehistoric mammals on the evening news is the discovery of a new, almost intact specimen. Central Asian Hernanodon was known to paleontologists for more than 30 years, but the fossil type was in such a bad condition that few people paid attention to it. The discovery of a new specimen of Hernanodon in Mongolia shed new light on this strange mammal that lived in the Late Paleocene era, less than 10 million years after the extinction of dinosaurs. In short, Hernanodon was small, digging up mammals that seem to be the ancestors of modern pangolins (which he probably resembled). Eucladoceros. Commons name: Eucladoceros (Greek for well-branched horns); pronounced YOU-clad-OSS-eh-russ Habitat: Plains of Eurasia Historical Age: Pliocene-Pleistocene (5 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About eight feet long and 750-1000 pounds Diet: Grass Distinctive characteristics: Large size; large, ornate antlers In many ways, Eucladoceros is not much different from modern deer and elk to which this mammal megafauna was directly ancestral. What really set Eucladoceros apart from their modern descendants were the larger, branched, multi-ton horns worn by men, which were used for intra-like recognition in the herd, and were also a sexually chosen characteristic (i.e., men with larger, more ornate horns were more likely to impress females). Oddly enough, the horns of the Eucladoceros don't seem to have grown into any regular model, possessing a fractal, branched shape that should have been an impressive look during the mating season. Eurotamandua. Nobu Tamura Name: Eurotamandua (European tamandua, modern genus anteater); pronounced YOUR-o-tam-ann-do-ah Habitat: Forests of Western Europe Historical Era: Average Eocene (50-40 million years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet long and 25 pounds Diet: Ant Distinctive Characteristics: Large Size; Powerful forelimbs long, tubular snout In a strange reversal of the usual pattern with megafauna mammals, Eurotamandua was not much larger than modern anteaters; In fact, this three-foot-long creature was significantly smaller than the modern giant anteater, which can reach lengths of more than six feet. However, there are no errors in the Eurotamandua diet that can be derived from its long, tubular snout, powerful, clawed front limbs (which were used to dig and a muscular, exciting tail (which kept him in place as he settled in for a pleasant, long meal). What is less clear is whether Eurotamandua was a true anteater, or or mammals more closely related to modern pangolins; Paleontologists are still debating the issue. Gagadon. Western Digs If you announce a new genus of artiodactyl, it helps to come up with a distinctive name, since even the current mammals were fat on the ground at the beginning of the Eocene of North America, which explains Gagadon, named after pop superstar Lady Gaga. Castoroids (Giant Beaver). Does Castoroides, a giant beaver, build a giant dam? If so, no evidence has been preserved, although some enthusiasts point to a four-foot-tall dam in Ohio (which may well be done by another animal, or a natural process). Giant hyena (Paikrokuta). Wikimedia Commons Pachycrocuta, also known as Giant Hyena, followed a recognizably hyena-like way of life, stealing freshly-killed prey from its fellow Pleistocene predators of Africa and Eurasia, and sometimes even hunting for their own food. A giant short-faced bear. Wikimedia Commons With its estimated speed, the Giant Short-faced Bear may have been able to run down prehistoric Pleistocene horses of North America, but it doesn't seem to have been built reliably enough to tackle big prey. Glossoerium (Wikimedia Commons). Title: Glossotherium (Greek-language beast); pronounced GLOSS-oh-thee-ree-um Habitat: Plains of North and South America Historical Period: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million- 10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 13 feet long and 500-1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large claws on the front paws; The big, heavy head of another of the giant megafauna mammals that scoured the forests and plains of the Pleistocene of North and South America, the Glossotherium was little smaller than the truly giant Megaterium, but little more than its fellow land sloth Megalonyx (which is known for what was discovered by Thomas Jefferson). Glossotherium seems to have walked on the knuckles, in order to protect its large, sharp front claws, and it is known for having appeared in the La Brea Tar pit along with the surviving remains of Smilodon, a Saber-Tooth Tiger that may have been one of its natural predators. Glyptodon. Pavel Riha, the giant armadillo Gliptodon, probably hunted the extinction of early humans, who value him not only for his meat, but also for its receptacle carapace - there is evidence that South American settlers took refuge from the elements under the shells of Gliptodon. Hapalops. American Museum of Natural History Title: Hapalops (Greek for Soft Face); pronounced HAP-a-lops Habitat: Forests of South America Historical Era: Early-Medium Miocene (23-13 million years ago) Size and Weight: About four feet long and 50-75 pounds diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Long, thick legs; Long On the front legs; several teeth Giant mammals always have diminutive ancestors hiding somewhere far down on the birth tree, a rule that horses, elephants and, yes, sloths. Everyone knows about the Giant Slot, the Megatherum, but you may not have known that this multi-ton beast was associated with the sheep Hapalops who lived tens of millions of years ago in the Miocene era. As prehistoric sloths go, hapalops had a few odd characteristics: the long claws on its front hands probably obliged him to walk on its knuckles, like a gorilla, and it seems to possess a slightly larger brain than its descendants further down the line. The lack of teeth in the mouth of Hapalops is the key to the fact that this mammal feeds on soft vegetation, which does not require much reliable chewing, maybe it needs more brain to find their favorite dishes. A horned gopher. The National Museum of Natural History Horned Gopher (born Ceratogaulus) lived up to its name: it is a leg-long, otherwise innocuous gopher, as the creature wore a pair of sharp horns on its snout, the only rodent ever known to have evolved such a sophisticated head display. Hiracius (Wikimedia Commons). Title: Hyrachyus (Greek for hyrax-like); pronounced HI-rah-KAI-uss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Medium Eocene (40 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 3-5 feet long and 100-200 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Moderate Size; Muscle upper lip you may never have given this subject much thought, but modern rhinos are most closely related to tapirs-pigs as hoofed with flexible, elephant-trunk-like upper lips (taspirs are famous for their cameo appearance as prehistoric beasts in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 film: A Space Odyssey). As paleontologists can tell, the 40-million-year-old Girahus was ancestral to both of these creatures, with rhino-like teeth and the most baristic beginnings of the preset upper lip. Oddly enough, given its descendants, this megafauna mammal was named after a completely different (and even more obscure) modern creature, the gyrax. Giracodon. Henry Harder's name: Giracodon (Greek gyrax tooth); pronounced hi-rack-o-don Habitat: Forests of North America Historical Era: Medium Oligocene (30-25 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 500 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Horse, how to build; three-headed legs; Big Head Although Hyracodon looked a lot like a prehistoric horse, analysis of this creature's legs shows that he was not a particularly fast runner, and therefore probably spent most of his time in protected forests rather than open plains (where he would have been more susceptible to predators). In fact, Hyracodon is now considered the earliest megafauna mammal on the evolutionary lineage leading to modern rhinos (a journey that included some really huge intermediate shapes, such 15-ton indricoterium). Ikarioniceris. Commons name: Commons: (Greek for the night flyer Icarus); pronounced ICK-a-roe-NICK-the-riss Habitat: Forests of North America Historical Era: Early Eocene (55-50 million years ago) Size and Weight: About one foot in length and multiple ounces of diet: Insects Distinctive characteristics: Small size; Long tail; Shrewd teeth Probably, for aerodynamic reasons, prehistoric bats were no longer (or more dangerous) than modern bats. Icaronycteris is the earliest bat, for which we have solid fossil evidence, and even 50 million years ago it had a full range of bats-like traits, including wings of leather and a talent for echolocation (moth scales were found in the stomach of one sample of Icaronycteris, and the only way to catch moths at night with radar!) however, this early eocene bat betrayed some primitive characteristics , mainly involving the tail and teeth, which were relatively undifferentiated and shrewd compared to the teeth of modern bats. (Oddly enough, Icaronycteris existed at the same time and place as another prehistoric bat that had no echolocation capability, Onychonycteris.) indricotherium. Indricoteria is a giant ancestor of the modern rhino, the 15-20-ton Indricotherium had a rather long neck (although nothing comes close to what you'll see on the sauropod dinosaur), and the surprisingly thin legs are limited to three legs. Josephoartigazia. Nobu Tamura Name: Josephoartigazia; pronounced JOE-seff-oh-art-ih-gay-zha Habitat: Plains of the Historical Era of South America: Pliocene-Early Pleistocene (4-2 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and one ton Diet: Likely plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; dumb, hippo-like head with big front teeth Do you think you have a problem with the mouse? It's a good thing that a few million years ago you didn't live in South America when the monochrome rodent Josephoartigazia scoured the swamps and estuary of the continent. (By comparison, The closest living relative of Josephoartigazia, Paparana Bolivia, only weighs about 30 to 40 pounds, and the next largest prehistoric rodent, Phoberomys, was about 500 pounds lighter.) Since it is represented in fossils by one skull, paleontologists still do not know about the life of Josephoartigazia; we can only guess at its diet, which probably consisted of soft plants (and possibly fruit), and it likely wielded its giant front teeth or competing for women or to deter predators (or both). Entelodon (Killer Pig). Heinrich Harder Entelodon was immortalized as a killer pig, although, like modern pigs, he ate plants as well as meat. This oligocene mammal was the size of a cow and had a noticeable pig face with warts like, bones wattles on his cheeks. Cresoirctictos. Nobu Tamura Name: Kretzoiarctos (Greek Bear Kretsoy); Expressed Expressed Habitat: Forests of Spain Historical Era: Late Miocene (12-11 million years ago) Size and weight: About four feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Probably omnivorous distinctive characteristics: Moderate size; Perhaps panda-like fur coloring a few years ago, paleontologists discovered what was then thought to be the earliest ancestor of the modern panda bear, Agriarctos (aka earth bear). Now, further study of some Agriarctos-like fossils found in Spain has led experts to appoint an even earlier genus of panda ancestor, Kretzoiarctos (after paleontologist Miklos Kretzoi). Kretzoiarctos lived about a million years before Agriarctos, and he enjoyed an omnivorous diet feasting on the hard vegetables (and sometimes small mammals) of his Western European habitat. How exactly is a hundred-pound, tuber-eating bear turn into a much larger bamboo-eating giant East Asian panda? This is an issue that requires further study. Leptyttidium. Wikimedia Commons When various Leptictidium fossils were discovered in Germany a few decades ago, paleontologists faced a mystery: this small, insightful mammal turned out to be completely bipedal. Leptomerix (Nobu Tamura). Title: Leptomeryx (Greek light deminant); pronounced LEP-legs-MEH-Riks Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Era: Medium Eocene-early Miocene (41-18 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 3-4 feet long and 15-35 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Small Size; A slender body as common as it was on the North American plains tens of millions of years ago, Leptomeryx would get more press if it were easier to classify. Externally, this slender artiodactyl (even a nightless mammal) resembled a deer, but technically it was a rut, and therefore had more in common with modern cows. (Ruminants have multi-sectoral stomachs designed to digest hard plant matter, as well as constantly chewing their ruminants.) One interesting thing about Leptomeryx is that the later species of this megafauna mammal had a more complex tooth structure, which is probably an adaptation to their increasingly parched ecosystem (which has contributed to the growth of more hard-to-digest plants). Macrauchi. Sergio Perez Long trunk Macrauchenia hints that this megafauna mammal feeds on low-lying tree leaves, but his horses like teeth point to a herb diet. One can only conclude that Macrauchenia was an opportunistic browser and grazer, which helps explain its puzzle puzzle-like appearance. Megalocero. Flickr Men Megaloceros featured their huge, distributing, ornate horns that spanned nearly 12 feet from tip to tip and weighed just under 100 pounds. Presumably, this prehistoric deer had strong neck. Megalonix. The American Museum of Natural History In addition to its monochrome mass, Megalonyx, also known as Giant Land Land Distinguished significantly longer front part than hind legs, the key that he used his long front claws for rope in copious amounts of vegetation from trees. Megaterium (Giant Slot). The Paris Museum of Natural History Megatherium, known as the Giant Slot, is an interesting example in converged evolution: if you ignore its thick fur layer, this mammal was anatomically very similar to the calculated, pot-bellied, razor-sharp breed of dinosaurs known as therizinosaurus. Megostotherium. Roman Yevseyev Name: Megistotherium (Greek the biggest beast); pronounced fur-JISS-legs-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of North Africa Historical Era: Early Miocene (20 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 12 feet long and 1000-2000 pounds Diet: Meat Distinctive characteristics: Large size; an elongated skull with powerful jaws you can get the true measure of Megistotherium by studying its last, i.e. the name of the species: osteophlass, in Greek for bone crushing. It was the largest of all creodonts, carnivorous mammals that preceded modern wolves, cats and hyenas, weighing about a ton and with a long, massive, powerful jaw- dropping head. As big as it was, however, it is possible that Megistotherium was unusually slow and clunky, a hint that it may have cleared already dead carcasses (such as hyenas) rather than actively hunting down prey (like a wolf). The only megafauna predator competing with him in size was Andrewsarch, which may have been much larger, depending on whose reconstruction you believe in. Menoceras (Wikimedia Commons). Title: Menoceras (Greek crescent horn); Pronounced Fur-NOSS-on-Ross Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Era: Early-Medium Miocene (30-20 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 4-5 feet long and 300-500 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Small Size; Horn on males As prehistoric rhinos go, Menoceras don't cut a particularly impressive profile, especially compared to such gigantic, strange proportions of breed members as the 20-ton Indricotherium (which appeared on stage much later). The true importance of slim, boar-sized Menoceras is that it was the first ancient rhino to develop antlers, a small pair on the men's snout (a sure sign that these horns were a sexually chosen characteristic rather than meant as a form of defense). The discovery of numerous menoder bones in various locations in the United States (including Nebraska, Florida, California and New Jersey) suggests that this megafauna mammal roamed the American plains in wide herds. Mericododon (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Mericoidodon (Greek teeth, similar to teeth); pronounced MEH-rih-COY-doe-don Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Oligocene (33-23 million years ago) Size and weight: Five Feet In Length and 200-300 Pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Short Feet; Feet; The head with the primitive teeth of Merycoidodon is one of those prehistoric herbivores that it is difficult to get a good understanding because it does not have any similar analogues alive today. This megafauna mammal is technically classified as thylopod, a subfamily of artiodactyls (even current ungulates) associated with both pigs and cattle, and today is represented only by modern camels. However you chose to classify it, Merycoidodon was one of the most successful grazing mammals of the Oligocene era, presented as it is thousands of fossils (evidence that Merycoidodon roamed the North American plains in huge herds). Mesonics. Charles R. Knight Name: Mesonyx (Greek for medium claw); pronounced MAY-so-nix Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Epoch: Early-Middle Eocene (55-45 million years ago) Size and weight: about five feet long and 50-75 pounds Diet: Meaty distinctive characteristics: Wolf-like appearance; A narrow snout with sharp teeth If you saw a picture of Mesonis, you could be forgiven for thinking it was generic for modern wolves and dogs: this eocene mammal had a slender, quadrangle build, with dogs like paws and a narrow snout (probably tipped with a wet, black nose). However, Mesonyx appeared too early in evolutionary history to be directly related to dogs; rather, paleontologists speculate that it may have been lying near the root of the evolutionary branch that led to the whales (note its resemblance to the terrestrial ancestor of the Pakicetus whale). Mesoniks also played an important role in the discovery of another, larger Eocene predator, the giant Andrewsarch; this Central Asian megafauna predator was reconstructed from one partial skull based on its alleged connection to Mesoniks. Metaminodon. Henry Harder's name: Metaminodone (Greek outside Mynodon); pronounced META-a-MINE-o-don Habitat: Swamp and River North America Historical Age: Late Eocene-early oligocene (35-30 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 13 feet long and 2-3 tons Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; Highly-set eyes; If you never understood the difference between rhinos and hippos, you are bound to be confused by Metamynodon, which was technically a prehistoric rhino but looked much, much more like an ancient hippo. In the classic example of convergent evolution - the tendency for creatures occupying the same ecosystems to develop the same traits and behaviors - Metaminodone possessed an onion, hippopotamic body and highly moderately mesh eyes (the better for scanning its surroundings while it was immersed in water) and had no characteristics of modern rhinos. His immediate successor was the Miocene Teleoceras, which looked like a hippo, but at least possessed the smallest hint of nasal horn. Lower jaw Metridiochoerus. Commons name: Metridiochoerus (Greek for for Pig); pronounced fur-TRID-ee-oh-CARE-us Habitat: Plains of Africa Historical Age: Late Pliocene-Pleistocene (3 million one million years ago) Size and weight: About five feet long and 200 pounds of diet: Probably omnivorous distinctive characteristics: Moderate size; four tusks in the upper jaw Although its name is in Greek for a terrible pig, and it is sometimes called a giant warts, Metridiocheorus was a true runny nose among the multi-ton mammals of the Megafauna Pleistocene of Africa. The fact is that at 200 pounds or so, this prehistoric pig breeder was only slightly larger than the still ex-African warthog, though equipped with a more dangerous kind of tusk. The fact that the African warthog survived in the modern era, while the giant warts died out, may have been something with the latter's inability to survive the times of scarcity (after all, fewer mammals can withstand hunger longer stretches than longer). Morop. National Museum of Natural History Title: Morop (Greek for Stupid Feet); pronounced MORE-oh-pus Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Early-Medium Miocene (23-15 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Horse-like muzzle; three-headed front legs; A longer front than the back limbs Although the name Moropus (stupid leg) is striking in translation, this prehistoric mammal might have been better served by its original nickname, Macrotherium (Giant Beast - which would at least bring home its relationship to another -therium megafauna of the Miocene era, especially its close relative Chalicotherium. horses like muzzles and herbivores diet. Unlike Chalicotherium, however, Morop seems to have walked properly on the three-bone front legs rather than on the knuckles like a gorilla. Mylodon (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Mylodon (Greek for a peaceful tooth); pronounced MY-low-don Habitat: Plains of South America Historical Era: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 500 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Relatively small size; Thick skin; Sharp claws compared to other giant sloths like the three-ton Megaterium and Eremotheria, Mylodon had rank droppings, only measuring about 10 feet from head to tail and weighing about 500 pounds. Perhaps because it was relatively small, and thus a more likely target for predators, this prehistoric mammal megafauna had an unusually stiff skin reinforced by rigid osteoderms, and it was also equipped with sharp claws (which were probably not used for protection, but to eradicate rigid plant Interestingly, the scattered skins and manure fragments of Mylodon were so well that paleontologists once believed that this prehistoric sloth had never died out and still lived in the wilds of South America (a premise that soon proved wrong). It's not a good one. Charles R. Knight Name: Nesodon (Greek for island tooth); pronounced NAY-so-don Habitat: Forests of South America Historical Era: Late Oligocene-Average Miocene (29-16 million years ago) Size and Weight: about 5 to 10 feet long and 200 to 1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Big Head; A chunky trunk named in the mid-19th century by renowned paleontologist Richard Owen, Nessodon was appointed only as a toxicone - and thus a close relative of the more famous Toxodon - in 1988. Somewhat confusingly, this South American mammal megafauna consisted of three separate species ranging from sheep size to rhino-sized, all of which look vaguely like a cross between a rhino and a hippo. Like its closest relatives, Nesodon is technically classified as notoungulate, a distinctive breed of hoofed mammals that are left with no direct descendants of life. Nouralagus. Nobu Tamura Pliocene rabbit Nouragus Nuralagus weighed more than five times more than any species of rabbit or hare living today; one fossil sample indicates a human being at least 25 pounds. Obdurodon. The Australian Museum of the Ancient Monotrem Obdudordon was about the same size as its modern platypus relatives, but its score was relatively wide and flat and (that's the main difference) studded with teeth that adult platypus lacked. Onyhonicteris. Wikimedia Commons name: Onyhonicteris (Greek for clawed bat); pronounced OH-nick-o-nick-rice Habitat: Forests of North America Historical Period: Early Eocene (55-50 million years ago) Size and weight: a few inches long and a few ounces of diet: Insects Distinctive characteristics: Five claws of the hand; The primitive structure of onychonycteris' inner ear, a clawed bat, is an example in the unexpected twists of evolution: this prehistoric bat existed next to Icaronycteris, another flying mammal of early Eocene North America, but it differed from its winged relative in several important ways. While the inner ears of Icaronycteris show the beginning of echolat structures (meaning that this bat must have been capable of night hunting), Onichonicoteri's ears were much more primitive. Assuming that Onihonikatris takes precedence in fossils, it would mean that early bats developed the ability to fly before they developed the echolocation ability, although not all paleontologists are convinced. Paleocastor. Nobu Tamura Name: Palaeocastor (Greek for ancient beaver); pronounced PAL-ay-o- cass-ripped Habitat: Forests of North America Historical Era: The Late Oligocene (25 Years Ago) Size and Weight: About one foot in length and several pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Small size; Size The front teeth of 200-pound castoroides may be the most famous prehistoric beaver, but this was far from the first: that honor probably belongs to the much smaller Palaeocastor, a foot-long rodent who avoided designing dams for even more complex, eight-foot-deep burrows. Oddly enough, the preserved remnants of these burrows - the narrow, winding holes known in the American West as the Devil's Crusts - were discovered long before the palaeocastor itself, and it took some persuasion on the part of scientists before humans recognized that a creature as small as Paleocastor could be so hard-working. Even more impressive is that Palaeocastor seems to have dug out its burrows not with his hands like a mole, but with his oversized front teeth. Paleochyropterix. The name of the Commons: Palaeochiropteryx (in Greek means ancient wing of the hand); pronounced PAL-ay-oh-kih-ROP-the-rix Habitat: Woodlands Western Europe Historical Era: Early Eocene (50 million years ago) Size and weight: About three inches long and one ounce Diet: Insects Distinctive Characteristics: Primitive Wings; The distinctive inner structure of the ear At some point in the early Eocene era - and probably long before that, back in the late Cretaceous period - the first mouse-sized mammals evolved the ability to fly, opening up an evolutionary lineage leading to modern bats. The tiny (no more than three inches long and one ounce) Palaeochiropteryx already possessed the beginning of bats as the inner ear structure needed for echolocation, and its chunky wings would allow it to flutter at low altitudes above the forest floors of Western Europe. Unsurprisingly, Palaeochiropteryx seems to have been closely associated with his North American contemporary, the early Eocene Icaronycteris. Paleolagus. Wikimedia Commons name: Paleolagus (Greek ancient rabbit); pronounced PAL-i-OLL-a-Gus Habitat: Plains and Forests of North America Historical Era: Oligocene (33-23 million years ago) Size and Weight: About one foot in length and several pounds diet: Grass Distinctive characteristics: Short legs; Long tail; Rabbit-like build Disappointingly, the ancient rabbit Palaeolagus was not a monster-sized, like many prehistoric ancestors of existing mammals (for contrast, witness a giant beaver, Castoroides, which weighed as much as an adult). With the exception of his slightly shorter hind legs (the hint that he doesn't hop like modern rabbits), two pairs of top incisors (compared to one for modern rabbits) and a slightly longer tail, Palaeolagus looked amazing as its modern descendants, complete with long rabbit ears. Very few complete Palelagus fossils have been found; as you can imagine, this tiny mammal was so often hunted by oligocene carnivores that it survived to this day only in bits Pieces. Paleoparadoccia (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Paleparadoxia (Greek for for Puzzle); pronounced PAL-ee-oh-PAH-ra-dock-see-ah Habitat: Shorelines of the Northern Pacific Epoch Historical: Miocene (20-10 million years ago) Size and weight: about 10 feet long and 1000-2000 pounds Diet: Plants that feature characteristics: Short, inner curved legs; A bulky body; Horse as head Like its close relative, Desmostylus, Paleoparadoxia is an obscure offshoot of semi-aquatic mammals that brushed off about 10 million years ago and left no living descendants (although they may be remotely related to dugongs and manatees). Named by a stunned paleontologist after its strange combination of features, Paleoparadoccia (Greek for ancient puzzle) had a large, conned head, squat, walrus-like trunk, and splayed, internally curved legs more reminiscent of a prehistoric crocodile than a megafauna mammal. Two complete skeletons of this creature are known: one from the Pacific coast of North America and the other from Japan. Pelosovis (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Perowris (Greek monstrous sheep); pronounced PELL-oh-ROVE-iss Habitat: Plains of Africa Historical Age: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-5000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and one ton Diet: Grass Distinctive characteristics: Large size; big, ascending horns Despite its whimsical name, which in Greek means monstrous sheep - Perowris was generally not a sheep, but a giant artiodactyl (even hoofed), closely related to the modern buffalo. This Central African mammal looked like a giant bull, the most notable difference being the huge (about six feet long from base to tip), paired horns on top of its massive head. As you would expect for the delicious little megafauna mammals that divide the African plains with early humans, Pelorov's specimens were found with prints of primitive stone weapons. Peltefil. Getty Images Title: Peltephilus (Greek for Armor lover); pronounced PELL-the-FIE-luss Habitat: Plains of the Historical Era of South America: Late Oligocene-Early Miocene (25-20 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 150-200 pounds Diet: Unknown; Possibly omnivorous distinctive characteristics: armor coating along the back; Two horns on the muzzle Of one of the most comical- looking megafauna mammals of prehistoric times, Peltephilus looked like a giant badger pretending to be a cross between Ankylosaurus and a rhino. This five-foot-long battleship wore some impressive looking, flexible armor (which would have allowed it to curl up in a big ball when threatened), as well as two largish horns on the snout that are undoubtedly a sexually chosen characteristic (i.e., Peltephilus men with large horns got to mate with more women). How big, it was, however, Peltephilus did not match the giant descendants of the armadillo like Glyptodon and Doedicurus, which succeeded it for several million years. Phenacolus. Heinrich Heinrich Title: Phenacodus (Greek for obvious teeth); Expressed Fee-NACK-oh-duss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Early-Medium Eocene (55-45 million years ago) Size and weight: About five feet long and 50-75 pounds Diet: Grass Distinctive characteristics: Long, Straight Feet; Long tail; The narrow snout of Phenacodus was one of the simple vanilla mammals of the early Eocene era, medium-sized, vaguely deer or horses like herbivores that evolved just 10 million years after the dinosaurs became extinct. Its significance lies in the fact that it appears to have occupied the root of the hoofed tree; Phenaocodus (or a close relative) may have been hoofed mammals, of which later perissodactyls (odd hoofed) and artiodactyls (even hoofed) both evolved. The name of this creature, Greek for obvious teeth, comes from its, well, obvious teeth, which were well suited to grinding the hard vegetation of its North American habitat. Platigonus (Wikimedia Commons). Name: Platigonus; pronounced PLATT-ee-GO-nuss Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Late Miocene-Modern (10 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Long Legs; pigs like muzzle bakers vicious, omnivorous, pigs like a herd of animals that live mainly in southern and central America; Platygonus was one of their oldest ancestors, a relatively long-legged member of a breed that may occasionally venture beyond the forests of its North American habitat and onto open plains. Unlike modern bakers, Platygonus seems to have been a strict herbivore, using its dangerous tusks only to intimidate predators or other members of the herd (and perhaps to help it dig up delicious vegetables). This megafauna mammal also had an unusually advanced digestive system similar to the hominant system (i.e. cows, goats and sheep). It's a s throw. Wikimedia Commons name: Poebrotherium (Greek for the herbal beast); pronounced POE-ee-bro-thee-ree-um Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Era: Oligocene (33-23 million years ago) Size and Weight: About three feet tall and 75-100 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Small Size; Lama-like Head is a little-known fact that the first camels evolved in North America, and that these innovative ruminants (i.e. thuirty mammals) only later spread to North Africa and the Middle East, where most modern camels are found today. Named in the mid-19th century by renowned paleontologist Joseph Lady, Poebrotherium is one of the earliest camels yet identified in fossil records, long-legged, sheep-sized herbivores with distinctly llama-like heads. At this stage of camel evolution, about 35-25 years ago, characteristic features, such as greasy humps and legs, had not yet appeared; actually if you you're know Poebrotherium was a camel, one can assume that this megafauna mammal was a prehistoric deer. Potamoteria. Nobu Tamura Name: Potamotherium (Greek for river beast); pronounced POT-a-mo-THEE-REE-um Habitat: Rivers of Europe and North America Historical Era: Miocene (23-5 million years ago) Size and weight: About five feet long and 20-30 pounds Diet: Fish Distinctive characteristics: Slender body; Short feet When his fossils were first discovered, back in 1833, no one was sure what to do with Potamotherium, although the preponderance of evidence pointed to his time as a prehistoric weasel (a logical conclusion, given the sleek, weasel of this megafauna mammalian body). However, further research has moved Potamotherium to an evolutionary tree as a distant ancestor of modern pinnipeds, a family of marine mammals that includes seals and walruses. Pouille's recent discovery, The Walking Seal, sealed the deal, so to speak: these two Miocene mammals were clearly closely related to each other. Protosirs. Heinrich Harder's name: Protoqueras (Greek for the first horn); pronounced PRO-foot-SEH-rass Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Late Oligocene-Early Miocene (25-20 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 3-4 feet long and 100-200 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Four-ton legs; three pairs of short antlers on your head If you came across protocers and its protoceratids relatives 20 million years ago, you may be forgiven for thinking that these mammals megafauna were prehistoric deer. Like many ancient artiodoactili (even with non-hoofed ones), though, Protoceras and its ilk proved difficult to classify; their closest living relatives are most likely camels, not moose or prongs. Regardless of its classification, Protoceras was one of the first members of this distinctive group of mammal megafauna, with four-headed legs (later protoceratids had only two legs), and on males, three sets of steamy, chunky horns running from the top of the head to the muzzle. Puyila (Wikimedia Commons). The 25-million-year-old Puyila did not look like the ultimate ancestor of modern seals, sea lions and walruses - just as walking whales such as Ambolotets did not resemble their giant sea descendants. Pyrotherium. Flickr Title: Pirotheria (Greek for Fire Beast); pronounced PIE-roe-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Forests of the Historical Era of South America: Early Oligocene (34-30 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 10 feet long and 500-1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Long, narrow skull; Tusks; Elephant-like trunk You'd think a dramatic name as Pyrotherium-Greek for a fiery beast - will be bestowed on a dragon like a prehistoric reptile, but not such luck. Pyrotherium was in fact a medium-sized, vaguely elephant-like mammals that South America's forests about 30 million years ago, its tusks and prehensile muzzle pointing to the classic model of converged evolution (in other words, Pyrotherium lived like an elephant, so it evolved to look like an elephant as well). Why the fire beast? This is due to the fact that the remains of this herbivore were found in the beds of ancient volcanic ash. Self-tereria. The name of the Commons: Samotherium (in Greek Samos beast); pronounced SAY-moe-THEE-ree-um Habitat: Plains of Eurasia and Africa Historical Age: Late Miocene-Early Plioce (10-5 million years ago) Size and weight: About 10 feet tall and half-ton Diet: Plants Distinctive Characteristics: Short Neck; two ossicones on your head you can tell just by looking at it that Samoteria enjoyed a very different lifestyle from modern giraffes. This megafauna mammal had a relatively short neck and cow's snout, indicating that it grazed on the low grasses of the late Miocene of Africa and Eurasia, rather than gnawing on tall tree leaves. However, there is no error of the affinity of Selfteria with modern giraffes, as evidenced by a pair of ossicones (horn-like protrusions) on his head and his long, slender legs. Sarkastodon. Dmitry Bogdanov Name: Sarkastodon (Greek for tooth flesh-tearing); pronounced sar-cass-foot-don Habitat: Plains of Central Asia Historical Era: Late Eocene (35 million years ago) Size and weight: About 10 feet long and 500-1000 pounds Diet: Meat Distinctive characteristics: Bear-like build; Long, fluffy tail Once you get past its name, which has nothing to do with the word sarcastic-Sarkastodon looms in importance as a great creodont of the late Eocene era (the credontes were a prehistoric group of carnivorous mammals megafauna that preceded modern wolves, hyenas and big cats). In a typical example of converged evolution, Sarkastodon was very similar to a modern grizzly bear (if you do allowances for its long, fluffy tail) and it probably lived a lot like a grizzly bear as well, feeding opportunistically on fish, plants and other animals. In addition, the large, heavy teeth of Sarkastodon were particularly well adapted to cracking bones, either live prey or carcasses. Bull Shrubbery (Robert Bruce Horsfall). Name: Shrubbery Bull; genus name Euceratherium (pronounced YOU-see-rah-thee-ree-um) Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Pleistocene-Modern (2 million-10,000 years ago) Size and weight: About six feet long and 1000-2000 pounds Diet: Trees and shrubs Distinctive characteristics: Long horns; the shaggy layer of fur True boid - a family of cloven-hoofed colins whose modern members include cows, gazelles and impala-Shrub-Bull was notable for grazing not on grass but on low-lying trees and shrubs (paleontologists can it is by studying the coprolites of this megafauna mammal, or fossilized feed). Oddly enough, Shrub-Bull Shrubbery-Bull North America for tens of thousands of years before the arrival of the continent's most famous bovid, an American bison that migrated from Eurasia via the Bering Land Bridge. Like other mammals megafauna in its overall size range, the Euceratherium became extinct shortly after the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago. Sinonyx (Wikimedia Commons). Title: Sinonyx (Greek Chinese claw); pronounced Si-NON-nix Habitat: Plains of East Asia Historical Era: Late Paleocene (60-55 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 100 pounds Diet: Meat Distinctive characteristics: Moderate size; Big, long head; while he looked and behaved uncannily like a prehistoric dog, Sinonyx actually belonged to a family of carnivorous mammals, mesonichides that became extinct about 35 million years ago (other famous mezzanine included Mesonyx and the giant, monochrome Andrewsarchus, the largest terrestrial predator mammal that ever lived). Moderately sized, the tiny brains of Sinonyx scoured the plains and shores of late Paleocene Asia just 10 million years after the dinosaurs died out, an example of how quickly the tiny mammals of the Mesozoic era evolved during the subsequent cenozoic to occupy vacant ecological niches. One thing that distinguishes Sinonyx from the true prehistoric ancestors of dogs and wolves (which arrived on stage millions of years later) is that it possessed small hooves on its feet, and was an ancestor not of modern carnivorous mammals, but even of hoofed feet like deer, sheep and giraffes. Until recently, paleontologists even speculated that Sinonyx may even have been the ancestors of the first prehistoric whales (and thus a close relative of early cetacean genera such as Pakicetus and Ambulocetus), although it now seems that the mesonihids were distant relatives of whales, several times distant rather than their direct progenitors. Sivatherium. Heinrich Harder Like many Megafauna mammals of the Pleistocene era, Sivatherium hunted for the extinction of early humans; Rough photos of this prehistoric giraffe have been found preserved on rocks in the Sahara desert dating back tens of thousands of years. Deer Moose. Commons, like other Pleistocene mammals in North America, elk deer may have hunted to extinction early humans, but it also may have succumbed to climate change at the end of the last Ice Age and the loss of its natural pasture. Sea cow Steller (Wikimedia Commons). In 1741, the population of thousands of giant sea cows was studied by the early naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller, who noticed on this megafauna the mammal's tame hand-held arrangement, oversized head on an oversized body, and exclusive seaweed diets. Stefanokhin's skull. Commons Remains of prehistoric rhino Stefanorin were in an astounding number of countries starting France, Spain, Russia, Greece, China and Korea (possibly) Israel and Lebanon. Syngioceras (Wikimedia Commons). Title: Syndyoceras (Greek together horns); pronounced SIN-di-OSS-e-Rus Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Late Oligocene-Early Miocene (25-20 million years ago) Size and Weight: About five feet long and 200-300 pounds diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Grounded body; Two sets of antlers Although it looked (and probably behaved) like a modern deer, Syndyoceras was only a distant relative: the truth is, this megafauna mammal was artiodactyl (even fanfish), but it belonged to the obscure sub-family of this breed, protoceratids, whose only living descendants are camels. Syndyoceras men boasted some unusual head decorations: a pair of large, sharp, cattle-like horns behind their eyes, and a smaller pair, in V shape, on top of the muzzle. (These horns also existed on females, but in drastically reduced proportions.) One distinctly un deer as a characteristic of Syndyoceras was its large, tusk-like dog teeth, which it probably used while rooting for vegetation. Synthoceras. Wikimedia Commons name: Synthetoceras (Greek for combined horn); pronounced SIN-theh-toe-SEH-rass Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Late Miocene (10-5 million years ago) Size and weight: About seven feet long and 500-750 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Large size; The elongated horn on the narrow snout synthetoceras was the last, and largest, member of an obscure family of artiodactyls (even with non-hoofed), known as protoceratids; it lived several million years after Protoceras and Syndyoceras and at least doubled their size. The males of this deer-like animal (which was actually more closely related to modern camels) boasted one of nature's most incredible head ornaments, one, a foot-length horn that branched out at the end in a small V shape (this was in addition to a more normal looking pair of horns behind the eyes). Like modern deer, Synthetoceras seem to have lived in large herds where males retained dominance (and competed for females) depending on the size and impressiveness of their horns. Tv posters. Heinrich Harder's name: Teleoseras (Greek for long, horned); pronounced TELL-ee-OSS-eh-russ Habitat: Plains of North America Historical Age: Late Miocene (5 million years ago) Size and weight: About 13 feet long and 2-3 tons Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Long, hippo-like trunk; A small horn on the snout Of north America's most famous megafauna mammal, hundreds of Teleoceras fossils have been discovered in the Ashfall fossil bed of Nebraska, otherwise known as Rhino Pompeii. Teleoseras was a technically prehistoric rhino, albeit with a distinctly hippo-like his long, squat body and stumpy legs were well adapted to aquatic lifestyle, and he's even a hippo like a tooth. However, the small, almost insignificant horn on the front of the Teleoceras snout indicates its true rhino roots. (Teleoceras' immediate predecessor, Metamynodon, was an even more hippo-like, spending most of its time in the water.) Talassocnus. Wikimedia Commons name: Thalassocnus (Greek for sea sloth); pronounced THA-la-SOCK-nuss Habitat: Shore Lines of the Historical Era of South America: Late Miocene-Pliocene (10-2 million years ago) Size and Weight: About six feet long and 300-500 pounds Diet: Aquatic Plants Distinctive characteristics: Long front claws; Down curved snouts When most people think of prehistoric sloths, they picture huge, terrestrial beasts like Megatherium (Giant Sloth) and Megalonyx (Giant Earth Sloth). But the Pliocene era also witnessed its share of strangely adapted, one-off sloths, a prime example of which was Thalassecnus, who dived for food off the coast of northwestern South America (the inner part of this part of the continent, consisting mainly of desert). Thalassocnus used his long, claw-tipped hands as a reaper of underwater plants and anchored himself on the seabed while he was feeding, and his downward curved head may have been tipped slightly prehensile snout like that of a modern dugong. Titanotilopidus. Carl Buell Name: Titanotylopus (Greek for giant leg handles); pronounced tie-TAN-oh-TIE-Low Pnee Habitat: Plains of North America and Eurasia Historical Era: Pleistocene (3 million-300,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About 13 feet long and 1000-2000 pounds Diet: Plants: Distinctive Characteristics: Large Size; long, slender legs; one hump Name Titanotylopus takes precedence among paleontologists, but now discarded Gigantocamelus makes more sense: essentially, Titanotylopus was a dino-camel of the Pleistocene era, and was one of the largest mammals of the megafauna of North America and Eurasia (yes, camels were once indigenous peoples of North America!) befitting dino part of its nickname, Titanotylopus was unusually small brain for its size, and its upper reaches were more than those of modern camels (but still nothing nears saber-toothed status). This monochrome mammal also had a wide, flat-footed, well-adapted to walking on rough terrain, hence the translation of its Greek name, a giant leg with a handle. Toxodon. Commons name: Toxodon (Greek onion tooth); pronounced TOX-o-don Habitat: Plains of South America Historical Era: Pleistocene-Modern (3 million-10,000 years ago) Size and Weight: About nine feet long and 1,000 pounds Diet: Grass Distinctive characteristics: Short legs and neck; Big head; The short, flexible trunk of Toxodon was what paleontologists call mammals are closely related to hoofed mammals pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, but not quite in the same Thanks to the wonders of converged evolution, this herbivore evolved to look very much like a modern rhino, with chunky legs, short neck and teeth well adapted to eating hard grass (it may also have been fitted with a short, elephant-like proboscis at the end of its snout). Many of the remains of toxodon have been found in close proximity to primitive arrowheads, a sure sign that this slow, lumbering beast was hunting for the extinction of early humans. Trigonia. Commons name: Trigonia (Greek for three-pointed jaw); Expressed try-GO-nee-uss Habitat: Plains of North America and Western Europe Historical Age: The Late Eocene-Early Oligocene (35-30 million years ago) Size and Weight: About eight feet long and 1000 pounds Diet: Plants Distinctive characteristics: Five-ton legs; Lack of nasal horn Some prehistoric rhinos are more similar to their modern counterparts than others: while you might find it hard to find Indricotherium or Metamynodon on a rhino family tree, the same difficulty does not apply to Trigonias, which (if you glanced at this megafauna mammal without glasses on) would cut a very rhino-like profile. The difference is that Trigonias had five legs on his feet rather than three, as in most other prehistoric rhinos, and he lacked even the brightest hint of nasal horn. Trigonia lived in North America and Western Europe, the ancestral home of rhinos, before they moved further east after the Miocene era. Uintatherium (Wikimedia Commons). Uintatherium did not excel in the intelligence department, with its unusually small brain compared to the rest of its bulky body. How this megafauna mammal managed to survive for so long until it disappeared without a trace about 40 million years ago remains a mystery. Woolly rhino. Mauricio Anton Coelodonta, aka Woolly Rhino, was very similar to modern rhinos - that is, if you lose sight of his shaggy layer of fur and his odd, steamy horns, including a large, upward curved one at the tip of his muzzle and a smaller pair set further, closer to his eyes. Eyes. pleistocene mammals of north america pdf. synchronous extinction of north america pleistocene mammals

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