#cenozoic
According to the Chinese calendar, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger.
Coincidentally, here’s something I made for PBS Eons a while back: a Sumatran tiger witnesses the massive eruption of the Toba volcano, which happened around 75,000 years ago in Indonesia. The event was so monumental that a lake (lake Toba) is what remains in the place where a mountain once stood.
Let’s hope our collective experience in 2022 is better than that tiger’s.
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Just passing by.
Doedicurus clavicaudatus was a giant armadillo from central South America, with fossils being found in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. They reached an average weight of 1,400 kg, had spiked tail clubs and may have remained around until as recently as 7,000 years ago, meaning it certainly coexisted with both humans and other South American animals like the Jaguar and seriema.
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“MOVE!”
Many people don’t know that, but there were once “elephants” in South America. Notiomastodon platensis was a gomphothere (elephant cousins) that lived throughout most of the continent except for higher altitudes. They disappeared after humans arrived in South America, around 10,000 years ago.
With many other large and impressive species, South America was a lot like Africa until very recently.
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Toxodon was a strange, large mammal endemic to South America that went extinct only about 11,000 years ago. It superficially resembled hippos and (hornless) rhinos, and was in fact very distantly related to horses. Alongside this mamma and her calf are rheas and a termite mound, common features of central South America that remain to this day.
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Two Neanderthal brothers surround a bull Megaloceros with spears 100,000-50,000 years ago near Germany’s Unicorn Cave. Artifacts attributed to Neanderthals, including a carved knuckle bone from the giant deer, have been found in the cave and suggest our cousins were also capable of producing artwork.
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A Boreostemma takes a nap below a small Samanea during a hot afternoon in Urumaco, Venezuela. Alongside it, a small group of Bounodus eat the fallen fruit of the tree, while a Tinamou is taking a break on top of the glyptodont.
Check out Cenozoic Central’s Twitter thread about this scene to learn more about those species!
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LARGEST MAMMALS OF EACH GROUP. Size comparison chart.
These and some more are featured on my Youtube video dedicated to the TOP Largest Mammals. This chart is now also available for prints and more at Redbubble
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