images

Brontotherium with birds

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

t-din05-30001

Date

2009-10-12

Brontotherium wander the lush Late Eocene landscape of South Dakota 35 million years ago.
Modern rhinoceroses have a symbiotic relationship with birds (variously known as oxpeckers or tick birds) that eat parasites they find on the rhino's skin and noisily warn of danger. No doubt similar symbiotic relationships existed between birds and the megafauna of the Eocene.