Paraceratherium and child - Paraceratherium and child - A female Paraceratherium and her little seen...

Paraceratherium and child - Paraceratherium and child - A female Paraceratherium and her little seen 30 million years ago in northwestern China. The Paraceratherium was a gigantic terrestrial mammal nearly six metres high and weighing 20 tons. Apparently to modern Rhinoceros, it disappeared 23 million years ago. 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 is believed to be 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