Brontotheres have long been among the most recognizable of ancient mammals, even appearing in recent films like the Ice Age series, yet scientifically they haven't received very much recent attention. While they were of great interest to pioneering paleontologists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the last "great" work on them was published in 1929 by H.F. Osborn. While certainly a landmark synthesis it is needless to say that what is known about the brontotheres now is not the same as it was then (particularly given the way Osborn's views on orthogenesis are woven into his study), and thankfully Matthew C. Mihlbachler has published a massive, 400+ page monograph on the group in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. It's an epic work, but hopefully it will spur some new interest in this bizarre-looking group of extinct perissodactyls.
[For those of you looking for information about Brontotherium, keep in mind that since 2004 Mihlbachler has considered it to be a synonym of Megacerops, one of the genera not included in the systematic revision (although it is mentioned quite a bit in the paper).]
[Hat-tip to Afarensis]
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HOLY CRAP.
Must...print out...over several days...WHEEEE!!!
You'll note that the rib was not completely healed at the time of death. As a matter of fact, from the line drawing it doesn't appear to have started healing at all. Leading me to suspect that the animal died of a massive systemic infection.
Judging from the line drawing, the break became a joint (a "pseudoarthrosis"). That's a common occurrence with rib breaks. It also means the animal lived on for years.