The story of horse is very unique thanks to humans.
(THREAD)
North America saw in the Eocene epoch (56-44 million years ago) a dwarf horse like animal with arched back. From that across the ages, they grew larger in size, had longer legs & bigger brains.
(THREAD)
North America saw in the Eocene epoch (56-44 million years ago) a dwarf horse like animal with arched back. From that across the ages, they grew larger in size, had longer legs & bigger brains.
By the end of Pleistocene epoch (11, 700 years ago), horses had spread all over the world including Eurasia via the Bering land bridge which connects Americas to Eurasia. After this land bridge was submerged, in the next 2000 years, horses went extinct in the Americas.
This extinction was partly due to climate change & partly due to overhunting by humans who had just crossed over to Americas before the land bridge was submerged. This extinction was bad for American humans too as they lost the advantage of fast travel which the Eurasians had.
Back in Eurasia in Middle East & Steppes around the 5th millennium BC, humans domesticated wild horses and used them for transport & it proved out to be a gamechanger for humans as this accelerated the spread of humans, resources & even ideas.
When European colonizers finally reached the Americas in 16th century, they brought with them horses. Some of them over the next 3 centuries escaped from human captivity & gradually spread all over Americas.
This is how horses which originated in Americas finally went back home.
This is how horses which originated in Americas finally went back home.
There could be some errors in this thread regarding exact dates of epochs, ages & exact locations. I wrote the entire thing from memory so please point out any errors you spot.
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