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=
;
Cochise College =
Student Papers in Geology
Geology Home = Page = physical geology historical geology planet= ary gems<= /span>
Rog=
er
Weller, geology instructor
wellerr@cochise.edu
Evolution of a
Rhinoceras
by
Historical Geology-GLG 102
Spring 2005
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Can you imagine living=
among
animals this large? The
Baluchitherium is the largest land mammal that has ever lived. He is known as “The King of
Mammals.” The first discovery of the Baluchitherium fossils was made =
by
an English paleontologist, C.
Forster Cooper, in 1909 in
Other names that have been used to refer to the Baluchitherium are:
Paraceratherium
by Forster Cooper in 1911
Thaumastotherium
by Forster Cooper in 1913
Indricotherium
by Borissiak in 1915
Aralotherium
by Borissiak in 1939
Dzungariotherium Xu & Wang, 1978]
There are many s=
pecies
of the Baluchitherium. This could account for the many names it has been
given. The most common name u=
sed to
refer to this mammal is Indricotherium, pronounced IN-drik-oh-theer, meaning
“indrik breast.” =
Therium means beast =
in
Greek, and Indrik
comes from a mythical animal in Russian folklore that is similar to a unico=
rn,
but unlike a unicorn the Baluchitherium has no horn.
The Baluchitheri=
um
lived in the Oligocene
epoch through the early Miocene
epoch, approximately 20 to 30 Million years ago and is an ancestor to our
modern day rhinoceros. Scientists believe the Baluchitherium species came f=
rom
North America and migrated into Asia by crossing the land that stretched ac=
ross
the ![](3D"http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/pin/indricotherium.gif")
![](3D"rhino1_files/image009.jpg")
=
The Baluchitherium was an herbivore,
an animal that eats only plants. He feasted on the limbs and leaves from the
top of trees than twenty six-feet high. Scientists believe he ate up to two
tons a day. The area where the remains were found,
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The evolution of=
the
Rhinoceros began around fifty million years ago during the Eocene epoch. The
Rhinoceros evolved into many different species. In the late Eocene and early
Oligocene there lived a grazing aquatic rhino called a Telecoeras
that resembled a hippo. This species died out. Another species, the artiodactyls,
which were in
Today only five specie=
s of
rhinos exist. The five are further divided into ele=
ven
subspecies. The Bl=
ack
and White
species live in
&=
nbsp; Rhinos
have become one of the world’s most endangered species. They are hunt=
ed
for their horn=
s.
The horns are used in Chinese medicine to reduce fever. In the
![](3D"rhino1_files/image015.jpg")
&=
nbsp; Rhino
horns have become a profitable black market item. Thus poaching has become a
major threat to the rhino. A single black rhino horn can bring in more than
$50,000. It is illegal to kill a rhino for its horns, but it is impossible =
to
stop the poaching because of the high profit received by poachers. Guards a=
re
killed trying to protect the rhinos. The extinction of the rhinoceros could=
be
very near. If poaching continues, we may see it happen within the next ten
years. Poaching is not the only factor contributing to the decline in the r=
hino
population. Land that used to be their habitat is being used for agricultur=
e.
The destruction of the rhino habitat also reduces the rhino population.
&=
nbsp; The
rhinoceros species has been around for about fifty million years. This spec=
ies
has changed and evolved with time to survive in many climates and regions. =
It
has evolved from the size of a dog to the size of a dinosaur. The rhinoceros
extinction is inevitable. Trying to save these animals from poachers is alm=
ost
impossible, and land is badly needed for agriculture and housing. With everything working against the
existence of the Rhino, we will probably see its extinction within our
lifetime.
Works Cited
Prothero, Donald R., and Robert H. Dott,
Jr., “The Age of Mammals.” Evolution of the Earth 7=
th
ed. McGraw-Hill:
http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/courses/eeb296/EEB296S02/sn1984fig1_3.jpg
![http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/courses/eeb296/EEB296S02/sn1984fig1_3.jpg](3D"http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/courses/eeb296/EEB296S02/sn1984fig1_3.jpg"=){kind=link}
http://www.creationism.org/books/price/PredicmtEvol/Baluchitheriu=
mSkull.jpg
http://www.av=
ph.hpg.ig.com.br/jpg/indricotherium.jpg
![http://www.av= ph.hpg.ig.com.br/jpg/indricotherium.jpg](3D"http://www.avph.hpg.ig.com.br/jpg/indricotherium.jpg"){kind=link}
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/mammals/class=
ification/Perissodactyls.shtml
http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/marssim/simhtml=
/info/whats-a-herbivore.html
http://www.ucmp.ber=
keley.edu/tertiary/mio.html
http://www.di=
nosaurcollector.150m.com/Oligocene.html
http://www.ecotravel.co.za/Guides/Wildlife/Ver=
tebrates/Mammals/Big_5/Rhino/Rhino_Evolution.htm
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/beasts/photo/photo2_zoom5.html
http:=
//www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/fhc/relatives7.htm
http://www4=
.vc-net.ne.jp/~klivo/gen/indricotherium.htm
htt=
p://www.thehotspotonline.com/blahblah/articles/fossilpk.htm
http://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/extinction/otherextin=
ctrhinos.htm
htt=
p://www.rhinos-irf.org/rhinoinformation/populationtable.htm
http=
://www.rhinos-irf.org/education/rhinofactsfiles/index.htm#
http://my.execpc.com=
/~dschaeff/Rhinoceros.htm