images

Paraceratherium and child

by

Walter B. Myers/Novapix

Reference

t-din06-10001

Date

2010-04-18

A Paraceratherium mother grazes on leaves and twigs of a poplar tree 30 million years ago during the Rupelian Stage of the Oligocene Epoch in northwest China.
Paraceratherium (Indricotherium or Baluchitherium) is believed to be the the largest mammal ever to have walked the Earth. Adult Paraceratherium are estimated to have been 18 ft tall at the shoulder with a maximum raised head height of 26 ft. They may have weighed as much as 20 tons. Related to modern rhinoceroses, Paraceratherium became extinct about 23 million years ago.