Horned brontotheres

Body size

Horned brontotheres were the largest land mammals of the Eocene. Before to the brontotheres, the largest land mammals had been the dinoceratans, a group that went extinct in the Middle Eocene. The largest dinoceratan was Eobasileus, about 1.8 m (5.9 ft) at the shoulder. The largest of the horned brontotheres (such as Megacerops) were larger, at 2.5 meters (8 ft 2 in) tall at the shoulder or more. Horned brontotheres were far larger than all other contemporary perissodactyls, which were otherwise mostly small in the Eocene. After their extinction, horned brontotheres were surpassed in size in the Oligocene by the gigantic paraceratheres (such as Paraceratherium). The largest brontotheres were larger than all perissodactyls living today, including rhinoceroses.