Discover Top Posts Tagged with #eobasileus

I don't think I've given enough attention to paleogene mammals, so here's an Eobasilieus

#Eobasileus #paleoart #paleontology #evolution #mammals #dinocerate

i just found out about the Eobasileus and it straight up looks like something out of a high fantasy novel

The fact that, according to Wikipedia, the name means “horned dawn-king” automatically makes these fellas fit for fantasy! But yes, you’re right, and thank you for bringing these fantastic creatures to my attention. (also that wiki entry is very sassy!)

(image source, Wikipedia, linked above)

#Eobasileus #prehistoric animals

Weird Heads Month #13: Many-Horned Mammals

The dinoceratans were a lineage of hoofed herbivorous mammals whose evolutionary affinities are a little uncertain, but may have been related to the South American meridiungulates. Found in Asia and North America from the late Paleocene to the late Eocene, they had bulky rhino-like bodies and were some of the largest terrestrial animals of their time.

Eobasileus cornutus was one of the biggest of them all, measuring around 2.1m tall at the shoulder (~7′) and living in the Western United States during the early Eocene, about 46-40 million years ago.

And it had a very odd-looking head, with six blunt ossicone-like horns, large sabre-like fangs, bony flanges on its lower jaw, a concave forehead, and a proportionally tiny brain for its body size. The horns and fangs were sexually dimorphic, much smaller in females, suggesting they were mainly used for display or combat between males.