Early Sabertoothed Cat, Hoplophoneus vs Early Hourse, Mesohippus coloring page

 First of all, scroll down to see more posts.  I posted a cool Swallowtail Fairy drawing yesterday.

 But TODAY'S new post is this, a drawing of Mesohippus under attack

by a Hoplophoneus.  Both animals are early versions of their type of animal. 

Hoplophoneus vs Mesohippus

These two mammals are from the Oligocene Epoch of the Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era.  It was from 33.7 to 23.8 million years ago.  These two mammals are from about 30 mya.  "MYA" or "mya" means "million years ago."

Hoplophoneus was an early sabertooth cat, although its saber teeth were not as proportionally long as the later bigger sabertooth cats.  Hoplophoneus was about 4 feet 3 inches long including the longish tail.  That is also 1.3 meters long. Its scientific name is Hoplophoneus occidentalis.  In comparison, the Smilodon that appeared much later on was nearly 6 feet long.  And Smilodon had a short tail.  It most certainly preyed upon early horses, like Mesohippus.  

Mesohippus was a very early horse.  It had 3 toes on each foot because one toe or one hoof per foot had not evolved yet.  Horses back then, in the Oligocene were much smaller than modern horses.  Mesohippus was about 4 feet or 1.2 meters long.  So Mesohippus and Hoplophoneus were about the same size.  But Mesohippus was a grazer herbivore.  And Hoplophoneus was a predator carnivore. 

NOTE:  The inspiration for this drawing comes from a display at the Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, Utah.   It is an awesome museum! To me, this museum is the happiest place on Earth, after our home. (Apologies to Disneyland, but I am a paleontology nut!)   The museum paleontology displays start with the early life of the Paleozoic and go through the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods.  Then you walk through the "ocean room" where there are early Marine Reptiles.  The displays end with early mammals of the Cenozoic Period.  Below are the two animal skeletons from the display that inspired this drawing.   

My drawing of Mesohippus and Hoplophoneus, in printable form, is found by clicking on the button labeled "Paleontology."  Then scroll down to the bottom of the Cenozoic part of the list.   Have fun coloring!

Hoplophoneus & Mesohippus from Museum of Ancient Life, Lehi, Utah, USA