PMNH showcasing the largest extinct mammal on earth

A life-size display of Baluchitherium (the largest extinct mammal on earth) at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History (PMNH) has created immense interest for students and the general public. The exhibition opened recently and has been well received by all. The PMNH has been taking painstaking steps for the research, documentation, conservation, preservation and display of the natural history of Pakistan.
Spokesperson Rehana Batool said the establishment of the PMNH was one of the best steps taken by the government for the promotion of science and technology. The Baluchitherium is the largest land mammal in the world that lived in Balochistan around 30 million years ago. The extinct Rhinoceros is called Baluchitherium, as ‘Baluchi’ stands for Balochistan and ‘therium’ for beast and it literally means the ‘Beast of Balochistan’. It was named so because it was first discovered in the Bugti Hills (that are 30 million to 20 million years old) in Balochistan.
The average height of an adult Baluchitherium is estimated to have been 18 ft high at the shoulder, and its approximate weight is two tons (2,000 kg). Its fossils were first discovered in the Bugti Hills in 1908, and included only a few foot bones. However, a major discovery was made in 2000, when a joint team of palaeontologists from the University of Montpellier, France, and the PMNH found an almost complete skeleton of Baluchitherium from the Chitarwata Formation, north of Sui in the Bugti Hills after searching for almost three years.
PSF Chairman Dr Manzoor said this discovery had greatly increased the geological significance of Pakistan for research in the field of palaeontology and had made the country famous among geoscientists and biologists all over the world. He also spoke on the statutory functions of the museum and contributions to natural history research and biodiversity conservation as well as public education.