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Here is the fourth episode of my own Walking with Beasts where I take on the one epoch that wasn´t covered by the original documentary. The Miocene is like the Cretaceous in terms of sheer diversity of animals, but since we didn´t get a South American episode till the Great American Interchange I wanted to feature Miocene South America with phorusrhacids, borhyaenids, astrapotheres and sebecids. However, my Paleocene episode already covered the isolated fauna of South America, and the Miocene is when modern mammal groups (Carnivora, Proboscidea) really took over. So as a compromise I came up with this episode that is set 15 million years ago in California and Argentina, with the sea serving as the connection between both. Of course there could easily have been an entire episode devoted just to the North American, South American or even German fauna of the Miocene, but I wanted to show how diverse they were on a more global scale.

Kelenken guillermoi: This 2.5 meter tall phorusrhacid has the largest skull of any bird. It is the only predator of Miocene Argentina shown in this episode (yes I know it´s not the only one). Traced over the reconstruction at Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelenken…
Theosodon gracilis: A 2 meter long member of Litopterna, an endemic group of South American ungulates. This herbivore serves as the major prey of Kelenken and is a "poor man´s Macrauchenia". Traced over ´s reconstruction: romanyevseyev.deviantart.com/a…
Peltephilus ferox: A 1.5 meter long armadillo to show how weird endemic fauna can look like. Now I could have featured some early glyptodont with an unpronounceable name like Parapropalaehoplophorus, but I chose this one instead. Traced over the Peltephilus reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Osteodontornis orri: A pseudotooth bird with a 5.5 meter wingspan that serves as the connection between South America, the sea and North America (like the Ornithocheirus in Walking with Dinosaurs). Genus and species doesn´t really matter, pelagornithids were globally present from the Paleocene to the Pleistocene so you could sneak an indeterminate pelagornithid in pretty much every setting you want and then have him fly from one location to another. Traced over the Osteodontornis reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Gomphotherium productum: A proboscidean with a shoulder height of more than 2.5 meters. The Miocene is also known as the age of elephants, so I wanted to have an actual proboscidian instead of an astrapothere lookalike in the cast. While the type species of Gomphotherium is from Germany, North America is closer to South America and thus an easier destination for the pseudotooth bird to reach. Traced over the Gomphotherium reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Amphicyon ingens: A 2.5 meter long carnivore that serves as the main predator of Miocene North America. The giant bear dog is another staple of Miocene fauna that seemed to noteworthy to be replaced by a borhyaenid. Traced over ´s reconstruction: rom-u.deviantart.com/art/Amphi…
Tylocephalonyx skinneri: A 2.2 meter long herbivore of the family Chalicotheriidae. With its large claws and the domed skull this perissodactyl serves as an example that South America wasn´t the only place with strange animals. Traced over ´s reconstruction: www.deviantart.com/art/Tylocep…
Pelagiarctos thomasi: A 3 meter long pinniped that belongs to the same family as the modern walrus. Pelagiarctos has been hailed as a "killer walrus" specifically adapted to hunt other large marine vertebrates. Newer studies refute this theory (note that even the notorious sea leopard spends most of the year eating krill), though Pelagiarctos would nonetheless be rather fearsome. Head based on the reconstruction by Robert Boessenecker: coastalpaleo.blogspot.de/2013/…
Livyatan melvillei: A 15 meter long cetacean that preys on smaller marine animals. The actual age of Livyatan seems to have been 13 million years and younger, though again a little wiggle room seems acceptable in my opinion. Traced over the ´s reconstruction: christopher252.deviantart.com/…
Carcharocles megalodon: An 18 meter long shark that preys on anything it can sink its teeth into. I know some people frown when this fish is just reconstructed as an oversized Great White shark, but that shark is our best analogy in regards of tooth form and lifestyle. To stand out at least a little bit I gave it the colour of a blue shark, which makes zero difference in an underwater view. Traced over ´s reconstruction: bran-artworks.deviantart.com/a…

Description
Here is the fourth episode of my own Walking with Beasts where I take on the one epoch that wasn´t covered by the original documentary. The Miocene is like the Cretaceous in terms of sheer diversity of animals, but since we didn´t get a South American episode till the Great American Interchange I wanted to feature Miocene South America with phorusrhacids, borhyaenids, astrapotheres and sebecids. However, my Paleocene episode already covered the isolated fauna of South America, and the Miocene is when modern mammal groups (Carnivora, Proboscidea) really took over. So as a compromise I came up with this episode that is set 15 million years ago in California and Argentina, with the sea serving as the connection between both. Of course there could easily have been an entire episode devoted just to the North American, South American or even German fauna of the Miocene, but I wanted to show how diverse they were on a more global scale.

Kelenken guillermoi: This 2.5 meter tall phorusrhacid has the largest skull of any bird. It is the only predator of Miocene Argentina shown in this episode (yes I know it´s not the only one). Traced over the reconstruction at Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelenken…
Theosodon gracilis: A 2 meter long member of Litopterna, an endemic group of South American ungulates. This herbivore serves as the major prey of Kelenken and is a "poor man´s Macrauchenia". Traced over ´s reconstruction: romanyevseyev.deviantart.com/a…
Peltephilus ferox: A 1.5 meter long armadillo to show how weird endemic fauna can look like. Now I could have featured some early glyptodont with an unpronounceable name like Parapropalaehoplophorus, but I chose this one instead. Traced over the Peltephilus reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Osteodontornis orri: A pseudotooth bird with a 5.5 meter wingspan that serves as the connection between South America, the sea and North America (like the Ornithocheirus in Walking with Dinosaurs). Genus and species doesn´t really matter, pelagornithids were globally present from the Paleocene to the Pleistocene so you could sneak an indeterminate pelagornithid in pretty much every setting you want and then have him fly from one location to another. Traced over the Osteodontornis reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Gomphotherium productum: A proboscidean with a shoulder height of more than 2.5 meters. The Miocene is also known as the age of elephants, so I wanted to have an actual proboscidian instead of an astrapothere lookalike in the cast. While the type species of Gomphotherium is from Germany, North America is closer to South America and thus an easier destination for the pseudotooth bird to reach. Traced over the Gomphotherium reconstruction in "The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals".
Amphicyon ingens: A 2.5 meter long carnivore that serves as the main predator of Miocene North America. The giant bear dog is another staple of Miocene fauna that seemed to noteworthy to be replaced by a borhyaenid. Traced over ´s reconstruction: rom-u.deviantart.com/art/Amphi…
Tylocephalonyx skinneri: A 2.2 meter long herbivore of the family Chalicotheriidae. With its large claws and the domed skull this perissodactyl serves as an example that South America wasn´t the only place with strange animals. Traced over ´s reconstruction: www.deviantart.com/art/Tylocep…
Pelagiarctos thomasi: A 3 meter long pinniped that belongs to the same family as the modern walrus. Pelagiarctos has been hailed as a "killer walrus" specifically adapted to hunt other large marine vertebrates. Newer studies refute this theory (note that even the notorious sea leopard spends most of the year eating krill), though Pelagiarctos would nonetheless be rather fearsome. Head based on the reconstruction by Robert Boessenecker: coastalpaleo.blogspot.de/2013/…
Livyatan melvillei: A 15 meter long cetacean that preys on smaller marine animals. The actual age of Livyatan seems to have been 13 million years and younger, though again a little wiggle room seems acceptable in my opinion. Traced over the ´s reconstruction: christopher252.deviantart.com/…
Carcharocles megalodon: An 18 meter long shark that preys on anything it can sink its teeth into. I know some people frown when this fish is just reconstructed as an oversized Great White shark, but that shark is our best analogy in regards of tooth form and lifestyle. To stand out at least a little bit I gave it the colour of a blue shark, which makes zero difference in an underwater view. Traced over ´s reconstruction: bran-artworks.deviantart.com/a…