Brontotherium

Name: Brontotherium ‭(‬Thunder beast‭)‬.
Phonetic: Bron-toe-fee-ree-um.
Named By: Othniel Charles Marsh‭ ‬-‭ ‬1873.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Perissodactyla,‭ ‬Brontotheriidae.
Species: B.‭ ‬gigas‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬leidyi,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬hatcheri,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬ingens,‭ ‬B.‭ ‬platyceras.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 2.5‭ ‬meters tall at the shoulder.
Known locations: USA.
Time period: Late Eocene to early Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Many specimens.

       

Brontotherium like with many other ancient animals such as Paraceratherium has undergone a lot of controversial reclassification with many palaeontologists considering it a species of Megacerops.‭ ‬Although this is not universally accepted,‭ ‬the two genera are very close to one another in form,‭ ‬and both have a Y-shaped nasal horn that most probably served as a display feature.‭ ‬Many Brontotherium individuals have been found in deposits of volcanic ash which not only indicates that the area they lived in was geologically active,‭ ‬but that these mammals lived in groups.
       Brontotherium is the type genus of the Brontotheriidae,‭ ‬and like other members of this group of mammals they resembled modern rhinos in both form and ecological niche.‭ ‬Like in some related mammals,‭ ‬Brontotheriumhad greatly enlarged neural spines rising up from the forward dorsal vertebrae which served as attachment points for the powerful neck muscles that supported the head.‭ ‬Remains of these beasts have also been identified as the thunder horses that exist in Native American culture.