Brontotheriidae

family of mammals (fossil)

The Brontotheriidae, also called Titanotheriidae, is a family of extinct mammals belonging to the order Perissodactyla. This is the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. On the outside, Brontotheres looked rather like rhinos, but they were actually more closely related to horses. They lived around 56–34 million years ago, until the end of the Eocene.

Brontotheres
Temporal range: 56–34 Ma Eocene
Brontotherium hatcheri skeleton at the
National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Brontotheriidae
Marsh, 1873
Synonyms
  • Menodontidae
  • Titanotheriidae

Later brontotheres were huge, up to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in height with bizarre horn-like skull appendages.