The first horses to live on the planet were actually tiny when compared to their modern day counterparts. Species like Sifrihippus, only weigh around 8 pounds, which is close to the size of a modern day house cat. These horses lived in the Pleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum which saw significant global warming.
Evolution
The horses evolved from another mammal called Eohippus. They slowly adapted from having multiple toes into something similar to the hoofed animals we see today, just on a much smaller scale, but there is a good reason for their tiny stature.
Climate Change
Because the world was going through a significant heating event, it meant that many mammals got much smaller. Being smaller was an advantage in such a hot climate where a larger animal would find it harder to regulate their body heat. Heat retention is much better in animals with a bigger surface area, aiding big animals in colder climates.
Sifrhippus
Sifrhippus was one of the earliest horses that walked on the forests of North America between 54 and 30 million years ago. The species had multiple toes on each foot, but were somewhat in between a mammal with normal toes and the horse we see today.
Small In Stature
Horse species fluctuated in size over millions of years due to multiple environmental factors. The early, small horses would eventually start to grow as the climate settled until they became the familiar imposing beast we know today.
Modern Horses
These early horses has a hybrid toe structure to better adapt in the forest environment they were a part of. As time went on, horses were introduced to grasslands, where their diet changed, they grew in size, and got their hooves. But one of these specimens actually made it into space.
Going To Space
The early horse that would be destined to go to space would have to first become a fossil. After being discovered by paleontologists, it sat in the Florida Museum Of Natural History. At some point, the fossil fragment of the animal, among other species, was collected and sent on a mission to space.
A Unique Fossil
The fossil of the Sifrhippus that made it into space wasn’t just any example of the species. The fossil was part of a jaw complete with teeth, but more importantly, it was the earliest fossil of its species ever found, which meant it would also be the first Sifrhippus to breach Earth’s atmosphere.
A Unique Opportunity
The horse fossil ended up on Blue Origin’s New Shepard Rocket when a professor at the University of Florida, Rob Ferl, went along on the mission. Ferl has been studying the effects that zero gravity has on organic matter for decades and saw an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
Bringing Sifrhippus Along For The Ride
Ferl decided to bring some small items with him, which included the fossil of the Sifrhippus and an early ancestor of primates. This gave the professor a hands-on field test of how the fossils would be affected by the zero research. He would have brought bigger fossils, but he was limited in what he could bring along.
Crucial Findings
This isn’t the first time that fossils have been sent into space. Among many others, bats and small dinosaur fossils have also been sent in the past. Once in orbit, they can be studied to see how they hold up in a foreign environment.
Why?
The exact reason why Ferl brought the fossil with him on his journey is still not widely documented. Experiments like this in the past have helped researchers understand how organic materials of various origins can withstand space conditions. The research could aid the future transport of important organic materials that support life.
The Journey Of A Lifetime
While the small piece of what was a Sifrhippus may not know that it has returned from a mission, it’s still a hallmark to the species as a journey of a lifetime. A fossil of a horse jaw has made it to space, something that few humans will ever do in this lifetime or most probably the next several.
