Uintatherium Colouring Page

Uintatherium anceps was a huge plant-eating mammal from western North America. Its fossils are especially well known from Eocene rocks in Wyoming and Utah in the United States. It lived roughly 45 to 37 million years ago, long after non-bird dinosaurs had disappeared. A large adult may have been about 3 to 4 metres long and roughly 1.5 to 1.7 metres high at the shoulder, with a weight of more than a tonne. Its lifetime in years is not known because fossils cannot give researchers a dependable maximum age. Uintatherium belonged to an extinct mammal group called dinoceratans, so it was not a rhinoceros even though its heavy body can look rhino-like. Its most memorable feature was the skull. Large individuals carried six rounded bony knobs arranged as three pairs, plus long upper canine teeth shaped rather like tusks. Scientists think the knobs may have supported thicker skin and could have been useful for display, while the tusks may have helped with defence or competition. Broad feet supported the animal's weight, and its cheek teeth were suited to browsing on leaves and other soft plants. Uintatherium disappeared by the later Eocene, around 37 million years ago. No person saw the final animal and no named last individual is recorded. Its exact extinction cause is unknown. Climate, vegetation and mammal communities changed over immense spans of time, but scientists cannot yet connect its disappearance to one proven event. Colour this Eocene giant in earthy shades such as warm grey, clay brown, tan or olive-brown. Make the underside a little lighter and add darker colour around the shoulders and sturdy legs. The six skull knobs should stay easy to count: three pairs, perhaps tan with cream highlights. Colour the canine tusks ivory or pale yellow and keep their edges bright. Try green palms and shrubs, rust-coloured rocks, golden soil and a soft blue sky. Use short curved strokes on the body to suggest thick skin, smooth strokes along the tusks, and gentle horizontal strokes across the ground. Do not add extra horns. The six knobs, two long canine tusks and enormous body are the clues that make Uintatherium special.

◫ A4 size✎ Bold outlines♡ Ages 3–8

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