Tag: paraceratherium

Largest Mammal Ever?

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Paraceratherium linxiaense giant rhinos in the Linxia Basin

 

Paleontologists working in China have found the fossils of a giant rhinoceros that may well have been the largest land mammal ever–16 feet high at the shoulder, 26 feet long, and weighing in at 24 tons (https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/scientists-found-ancient-fossilized-rhino-144318178.html).

They’re calling it a Paraceratherium, but I prefer the old name, Baluchitherium. Roy Chapman Andrews found one during his Gobi Desert expeditions in the 1920s. Specimens have also been found throughout Asia, with hints its range may have reached into eastern Europe. (Some call it the Indricothere. This can get confusing.)

This one’s four times the size of a full-grown elephant, and supposedly lived some 26 million years ago. Some of you won’t be buying that, but let it go for now. Whatever its age, there it is–a hornless rhino like a walking building.

I’ve always loved this creature. This is the great beast King Ryons rode to the rescue of the city of Obann.

The Thunder King (Bell Mountain, 3) - Kindle edition by Duigon, Lee. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Can you imagine seeing one of these? It was as big as a fair-sized dinosaur. There must be a limit to how big a mammal can grow–but have we seen that limit yet?

Rejoice in the works of the Lord!

Revisionists Go Home!

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

See the source image

All my life, the Baluchitherium has been the largest land mammal ever. (Don’t let that “Paraceratherium” business throw you: they’re always changing the name.) And then they bring up this… this Paleoloxodon thing, this mere elephant–and say, “No, it wasn’t Baluchi-something. It was this new discovery! Hail, Paleoloxodon! Greatest land mammal ever!”

Pshaw. That Baluchitherium in the picture is hardly half the size of the one that carried King Ryons to the rescue of Obann. And the elephant is just plain overgrown. So it had longer and straighter tusks than any modern elephant–go on, ask me if I care! Whereas Baluchitherium was a rhinoceros so freakin’ big, it didn’t need a horn. Didn’t it scatter an entire Heathen army? I’d like to see anyone even try to do that with a Loxobagel. Like anything that’s new is automatically the best. Like naming baseball stadiums after some grubby little sponsor. Once upon a time the Edsel was new! And look how that wound up.

I am not going to rewrite The Thunder King just so I can bring in some boring elephant. And as for paleontological revisionism–boo, yabumya!

Rejoice in God’s Handiwork

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Some years ago, I interviewed the famous paleontologist, Bob Bakker; and he said something I’ll never forget. He asked, “Can you imagine the fun God had, creating all these things?”

I know I’ve showcased this critter before, but it is the largest land mammal that we know of, and one of my all-time favorite prehistoric animals. It has a lot of different scientific names. Just think of it as the great beast that King Ryons rode to the rescue of Obann: that’s in The Thunder King.

Please feel free to ignore this video’s Darwinian trappings. I show you this beast so you can stand up and cheer what God has done. And no one can say God has failed to give us an abundance of material in which to exercise our minds!

So where are these animals now? Why can’t we see them?

Well, we don’t know. All we know is that God created them, pronounced them “good” when He was finished, and has the entire universe at His disposal.

And I expect to see these creatures someday, in God’s own time.

The Largest Land Mammal Ever

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

From the BBC series, “Walking With Beasts”

Hi! Mr. Nature here, with the biggest, hugest land mammal ever to live–Baluchitherium. It’s also known as Indricotherium or Paraceratherium, but I’m sticking with the old name as I first discovered it in Roy Chapman Andrews’ books.

Anyhow, this baby is a whopper. The males were 18 feet high at the shoulder. This animal was a member of the rhinoceros family. So where’s the horn? You ain’t gonna tell me a Baluchitherium needs a horn, are you?

This is the great beast that King Ryons rode to the rescue of the city in Lee Duigon’s immortal classic, The Thunder King. Uh, wait a minute… that’s me. And it’s bad form to brag. Sorry! I seem to get carried away whenever I think about Baluchitheres.

No one has ever found a trace of any mammal bigger than this one, except for whales and they don’t count because they don’t live on the land. Baluchitherium was big enough to be a dinosaur. Big enough to squash your car like a bug.

Behold the works of the Lord, what wonders flow from His hands! Bob Bakker, the famous dinosaur scientist who, more than anyone else, convinced us that dinosaurs were active, warm-blooded creatures and not overgrown stupid mountains of flesh that had to float around in swamps, once told me it was one of his greatest pleasures to contemplate the joy and pleasure God receives from His creation.

There are still some scientists with their heads screwed on straight.