Epiaceratherium
| Epiaceratherium Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Composite skull of Epiceratherium spp. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
| Genus: | †Epiaceratherium Abel, 1910 |
| Species | |
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Epiaceratherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus was named by paleontologist Othenio Abel in 1910, with the type species being Epiaceratherium bolcense. This species is exclusively known from remains found at Monteviale in northern Italy, dating to the earliest Oligocene (~34 million years ago). The species Epiaceratherium magnum named by Uhlig, 1999, is known from remains found in Germany, France, Czechia and Switzerland, dating to the Early Oligocene to early Late Oligocene. Remains similar to this species have also been reported from Pakistan, dating to the Early Oligocene.[1] In 2013 the species was Epiaceratherium naduongense described from Na Duong Basin in northern Vietnam, dating to the mid-late Eocene (~39–35 million years ago).[2] In 2021, the species Molassitherium delemontense originally described in 2013 from late Early–early Late Oligocene deposits in Germany, Switzerland, France,[3] was reassigned to Epiaceratherium.[1]
Undescribed remains have been reported from Haughton crater in the high Canadian Arctic dating to the Early Oligocene.[4]
Epiaceratherium is often considered to be a primitive rhinocerotid, outside the split between Aceratheriinae, Elasmotheriinae and crown group Rhinocerotinae.[1]
Description
[edit]Epiaceratherium is distinctive from other basal rhinocerotids in lacking a lower third incisor (i3) as well as a lower canine, among a number of other characters of the premolar and molar teeth.[1] Species of the genus lacked horns.[5] The genus was relatively small in comparison to modern rhinoceroses with Epiaceratherium magnum and Epiaceratherium bolcense estimated to weigh 476–736 kilograms (1,049–1,623 lb) and 372–519 kilograms (820–1,144 lb) respectively in a 2015 study.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Tissier, Jérémy; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier; Becker, Damien (July 2020). "New material of Epiaceratherium and a new species of Mesaceratherium clear up the phylogeny of early Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla)". Royal Society Open Science. 7 (7): 200633. Bibcode:2020RSOS....700633T. doi:10.1098/rsos.200633. ISSN 2054-5703. PMC 7428265. PMID 32874655.
- ^ Böhme M et al. 2013 Na Duong (northern Vietnam) – an exceptional window into Eocene ecosystems from Southeast Asia. Zitteliana R. A Mitteilungen der Bayer. Staatssammlung fur Palaontologie und Geol. 53, 120-167.
- ^ Becker, Damien; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier; Maridet, Olivier (November 2013). "A new genus of Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Oligocene of Europe". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (8): 947–972. Bibcode:2013JSPal..11..947B. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.699007. ISSN 1477-2019.
- ^ Paterson, Ryan S.; Mackie, Meaghan; Capobianco, Alessio; Heckeberg, Nicola S.; Fraser, Danielle; Munir, Fazeelah; Patramanis, Ioannis; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Liu, Shanlin (2024-06-09), A 20+ Ma old enamel proteome from Canada's High Arctic reveals diversification of Rhinocerotidae in the middle Eocene-Oligocene, doi:10.1101/2024.06.07.597871, retrieved 2024-12-25
- ^ Uhlig U. 1999 Paleobiogeography of some Paleogene Rhinocerotoids (Mammalia) in Europe. Acta Palaeontol. Rom. 2, 477-481.
- ^ Pandolfi, Luca; Carnevale, Giorgio; Costeur, Loic; Favero, Letizia Del; Fornasiero, Mariagabriella; Ghezzo, Elena; Maiorino, Leonardo; Mietto, Paolo; Piras, Paolo; Rook, Lorenzo; Sansalone, Gabriele; Kotsakis, Tassos (2017-02-01). "Reassessing the earliest Oligocene vertebrate assemblage of Monteviale (Vicenza, Italy)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 15 (2): 83–127. Bibcode:2017JSPal..15...83P. doi:10.1080/14772019.2016.1147170. ISSN 1477-2019.