The Legends Were True About The Existence of Ancient Thunder Beasts

Thunder Beasts grew 1000 times bigger in a short span of time. In just 16 million years they became giant mammals on our planet.

Thunder beasts are part of the Brontotheriidae family which includes horses, rhinos, and tapirs. After the extinction of dinosaurs, these creatures gradually turned into gigantic mammals who then lived on for centuries without having any competition from other animals.

Due to the massive extinction of dinosaurs, Brontotheres found a free planet where they flourished and became one of the dominant forces of wilderness. This is known as the Cenozoic Period which is our current geological era.

Small-sized dinosaurs and archosaurs were alive until the close of ‘The Triassic Period‘. However, the great extinction wiped many species off the face of the earth. That’s when dinos started gaining significant improvement in their size.

But, after the K-T Extinction occurred, the new wave of gigantism began and it was Mammals who were meant to lead the way this time.

At the time when dinosaurs were roaming the earth, the presence of mammals was nothing more than a squirrel. We all know Dinosaurs were huge creatures lumbering on the earth, the thought of seeing one in real life is terrifying.

Mammals had no choice but to rush whenever Dinosaurs came. Fortunately, mammals survived the Cretaceous period; their burrows worked as a shelter, keeping them safe from asteroids falling from the sky.

The ancestor of the rhino was among those animals that got bigger after the massive extinction of nearly 75% of species. Brontotheres not just survived but are also considered one of the first mammals that took up some serious size.

Their living period dates back to 56 million years ago, till the end of the Eocene which is 36 million years ago. If we calculate this data precisely, rhino-like creatures or thunder beasts lived for 20 million years.

It is quite remarkable how much weight they gained within a few million years. Initially, these thunder beasts weighed around 40 pounds and then reached 4 to 5 tons in just 16 million years. This number is relatively small compared to our planet’s total age.

It is said that Earth came into existence 4.6 billion years ago; meaning that thunder beasts didn’t take much time to grow bigger. Study shows that there were 60 known species of Brontotheres and over half of them weighed more than a ton.

But why are they called thunder beasts? Ancient civilizations considered them the fearsome mythological lightning creatures who ignited when thunderstorms hit. Legends have several tales to tell us about their types.

One of the fossils found in North America mentions that the ancient mammals got this name from the “Sioux nation”. This North American tribe dates back 3000 years, making it one of the oldest civilizations in history.

As of now, we have three different theories about what was the core reason behind their enormous growth in the initial days of the Cenozoic Period.

The first one says their body parts might have swelled after some time because of natural selection, growth spurts tend to be the other reason that thunder beasts became giants, and the last one which is most likely the cause of their massive growth: rhino species are no short of varieties, with each having different sizes; the large rhinos survived for many years while short groups didn’t last long.

Evolution Research Group of Spain and Global Change Ecology analyzed 276 identities of the Brontothere family and they believed the last theory to be valid. It simply means that Brontothere species remained the same before spreading into different types. However, the larger ones picked up momentum and lived on for longer periods of time than their counterparts.

“When it comes to evolution our world is quite distant from what a Darwin would describe”.

The co-author of this study shares his opinions with Science News. He is also a paleobiologist at the University of Alcala, Madrid.

“The one who adapts better according to life’s circumstances usually gets through. It’s not always about being organized or progressing rather it’s more of a complex thing than what many of us believe”.

The lead author ‘Oscar Sanisidro’ says that when thunder beasts stamped the plains as giants, they merely have little or no competition at all when it comes to food. Thunder beasts had found themselves ruling North America because smaller mammal species were in huge numbers so plenty of opportunities were available for them. While smaller mammals faced many difficulties in acquiring the same resources.

However, this study is only applicable to the North American region, researchers are still working towards implementing the same methodology to find gigantic ancestors of various mammal families.

The truth about life on Earth is that it never remains the same; different times call for changes. And thunder beasts fit perfectly into this scenario. Surviving the calamities by digging holes, and then turning into bigger sizes at the beginning of the Cenozoic Period.