Uintatherium Mounted Skeleton Replica

$34,000.00

Uintatherium (“Beast of the Uinta Mountains”) is an extinct genus of herbivorous dinoceratan mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch.

Description

Uintatherium Mounted Skeleton Replica measures 114 inches. Uintatherium Mounted Skeleton Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Our precise skeleton can be used as a teaching tool, museum skeleton exhibit, home décor skeleton or office décor skeleton. Please call 509-951-3557 for shipping quote.

Uintatherium (“Beast of the Uinta Mountains”) or U. anceps is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch. Two species are currently recognized: U. anceps from the United States during the Early to Middle Eocene (56-38 million years ago) and U. insperatus of Middle to Late Eocene (48-34 million years ago) China.

Uintatherium or U. anceps was a large browsing animal. With a length of about 4 m (13 ft.), a height of 1.70 m (5.6 ft.), and a weight up to 2 tonnes, it was similar to today’s rhinoceros, both in size and in shape. Its legs were robust to sustain the weight of the animal and were equipped with hooves. Moreover, a Uintathere’s sternum was made up of horizontal segments, unlike today’s rhinos, which have compressed vertical segments.

Uintatheriums or U. anceps most unusual feature was the skull, which is both large and strongly built, but simultaneously flat and concave: this feature is rare and, apart from some brontotheres, not regularly characteristic of any other known mammal. Its cranial cavity was exceptionally small due to the walls of the cranium being exceedingly thick. The weight of the skull was mitigated by numerous sinuses permeating the walls of the cranium, like those in an elephant’s skull.

The large upper canine teeth might have served as formidable defensive weapons, and superficially resembled those of saber-toothed cats. Sexually dimorphic, the teeth were larger in males than in females. However, they also might have used them to pluck the aquatic plants from marshes that seem to have comprised their diet.

The skulls of the male Uintatherium bore six prominent knob-like ossicones that grew from the frontal region of the skull. The function of these structures is unknown. They may have been of use in defense and/or sexual display.

Fossils of Uintatherium or U. anceps have been found in the Bridger and Wakashie rock formations, in the states of Wyoming and Utah near the Uinta Mountains, which are commemorated in the generic name. An almost intact skull of U. insperatus was found in the lower part of the Lushi Formation of the Lushi Basin in Henan Province, China.

A cast of a Uintatherium skeleton is on display at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park. The skeleton of Uintatherium is also on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

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Additional information

Weight 225 lbs
Dimensions 114 in
Uitatherium Facts

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Dinocerata
Family: †Uintatheriidae
Genus: †Uintatherium