LOOK
WHEN YOU
The Hagerman Horse
By Lucas Thorne
The Horse
When you look at these Hagerman Horse fossils, you see fragility and fluidity. Sitting somewhat unassumingly, the fossilized remains of the Hagerman reveal to us a rich and storied past. Native to North America, the Hagerman Horse first appeared about three and a half million years ago, from the Pleistocene epoch to the early Pliocene. The Hagerman (equus simplicidens), classified as the oldest ancestor of the modern horse, was one of the first members of the horse family to transition from the woodlands to the grasslands. To do this, the Hagerman Horse adapted in several ways, such as growing in size compared to the earlier dog-sized horses, losing additional metacarpals to only have one, and developing complex enamel folds to chew their new diet of grasses. By exploring the story of the Hagerman Horse, you are reading a chapter in the story that is nature. Life is an immeasurable saga, but the Hagerman provides us with a window into that story so we may begin to comprehend what life truly is and how to live it. The essence of nature, beautiful, savage, and forever changing, is illustrated magnificently by the Hagerman Horse. The Hagerman Horse therefore provides a case study on how the world of nature functioned in the past and perpetually changes in the present.
The Quarry
The Specimen in the Orma J. Smith Museum of Natural History originated from the Hagerman Horse Quarry in Hagerman, Idaho. Discovered in 1928 by local rancher Elmer Cook, the quarry was excavated by James W. Gidley starting in 1930. He went on to find over sevearal full skeletons of Hagerman Horses along with hundreds of partial samples. It is still not known why such a large concentration of Hagerman were found at the Quarry, though leading theories include climate change, drought, and flood. Whatever the reason, the Hagerman Horse Quarry stands as source of great intellectual wealth for researchers and as a reminder to us all that life doesn’t last forever.