Laaras are a family of herbivorous mammals belonging to Perissodactyla's order, the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, tapirs, and chalicotheres (including mesorons. Superficially, they look rather like rhinos, although they are more closely related to horses; Equidae and Brontotheriidae make up the suborder Hippomorpha. They first evolved 56 million years ago as small tapir-like mammals, but they evolved into much larger and more rhino-like mammals over time. They are currently indigenous to North America, but in the Eocene, they once existed in Eurasia.
Fork-horned laara[]
Fork-horned laara
Fork-horned laara (Megacerops coloradensis) is an indigenous species to most North America, except in taiga reigns or tundra reigns, where the most common species of laaras lives. However, they were introduced to Africa by accident due to zoo escapees. They are mixed feeders that feed on any kind of plants, including grass, leaves, shrubs, fruits, vegetables, roots, tubers, bulbs, ferns, cycads, and horsetails. They are also the largest known species of laara, about the same size as an African forest elephant, standing up to about 2.5 meters (8 feet 2 inches) tall at the shoulders and the body, including the head, measuring about 5 meters (16 ft) in length. Hence their names, they possess a Y-shaped horn-like protrusion on their nose, with blunt ends. They also weigh more than 3 tons when fully grown.
Shovel-horned laara[]
Shovel-horned laara
Shovel-horned laara (Embolotherium eragsii) is a species of laara that is indigenous to western Mexico and the western United States but were accidentally introduced to Africa due to zoo escapees. They are mostly grazers that feed on grasses, flowers, and ferns and feed on fruits, vines, shrubs, and twigs. They are about 8 feet tall at the shoulders and about 13.7 feet in length. They also weigh about 2,000 kg (4,400 lb), not as large as the fork-horned laara, but is almost as large. The ancestor of shovel-horned laaras (known as Embulotherium andrewsi) once lived in Asia. Eventually, they migrated to North America due to a landbridge forming between Asia and North America during the Late Eocene period. The Asian populations of Embolotheriums became extinct while the North American populations of Embolotheriums have survived and evolved into a new species of Embolotherium known as Embolotherium eragsii.