Ceratotherium

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Ceratotherium
Temporal range: TortonianRecent [1]
Rhino (234581759).jpeg
A white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) in Etosha National Park, Namibia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Tribe: Dicerotini
Genus: Ceratotherium
Gray, 1868
Species

For others, see text

Ceratotherium (Greek: "horn" (keratos), "beast" (therion) [2] ) is a genus of the family Rhinocerotidae, consisting of a single extant species, the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), as well as several fossil species.

Taxonomy

Ceratotherium is more closely related to the genus Diceros (which contains the black rhinoceros) than it is to other living rhinoceroses, with the clade containing the two comprising the tribe Dicerotini (also spelled Diceroti) or subtribe Dicerotina. [3]

An extinct relative Ceratotherium mauritanicum , is known from the Pleistocene of North Africa and possibly the Pliocene of East Africa. Some authors have alternatively assigned the Pliocene East African remains to the species Ceratotherium efficax. [4] Some authors have considered Ceratotherium mauritanicum to be the ancestor of the living white rhinoceros if the Pliocene East African material is included, though others who only include North African material have suggested that it instead represents a distinct offshoot not ancestral to the white rhinoceros. [5]

Another species known as Ceratotherium praecox with remains assigned to the species dating to the Late Miocene and Pliocene (around 7-3 million years ago) of East Africa is now considered a member of the related genus Diceros because of the type material probably belongs to this genus, though other material historically assigned to this species likely represents true Ceratotherium. [6] [5] The placement of "Ceratotherium" neumayri from the Late Miocene of Europe and Western Asia within the genus has been questioned, with it possibly more closely related to the black rhinoceros or ancestral to both the white and black rhinoceros, or an early offshoot away from these two species, with other authors assigning it to Diceros or to the monotypic genus Miodiceros. [3] Some authors have recognised the species Ceratotherium germanoafricanum for remains spanning around 3-1 million years ago in East Africa and suggest that this species may be ancestral to the living white rhinoceros, though other authors have considered it a subspecies of the white rhinoceros or assigned these remains to other species like C. mauritanicum. [5]

The species 'Ceratotherium’ advenientis is known from the Late Miocene of southern Italy (when it was still part of Africa). [7] The species "Ceratotherium" douariense, known from the late Miocene of Tunisia, dating to around 7 million years ago, has been assigned to the genus by some authors. Its genus placement is disputed, with other authors placing the species in the genus Diceros as Diceros douariensis. [7] The species Ceratotherium? primaevum has been reported from Algeria dating to around 10 million years ago, with other possible remains reported from East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya). [7]

The earliest remains of the white rhinoceros date to the Early Pleistocene in East Africa, around 1-2 million years ago, depending on what remains are included in the species. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perissodactyla</span> Order of hoofed mammals

Perissodactyla is an order of ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three families: Equidae, Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses), and Tapiridae (tapirs). They typically have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three or one of the five original toes, though tapirs retain four toes on their front feet. The nonweight-bearing toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or positioned posteriorly. By contrast, artiodactyls bear most of their weight equally on four or two of the five toes: their third and fourth toes. Another difference between the two is that perissodactyls digest plant cellulose in their intestines, rather than in one or more stomach chambers as artiodactyls, with the exception of Suina, do.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black rhinoceros</span> Species of mammal

The black rhinoceros is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern Africa and southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Although the species is referred to as black, its colours vary from brown to grey. It is the only extant species of the genus Diceros.

<i>Elasmotherium</i> Genus of extinct rhinoceroses

Elasmotherium is an extinct genus of large rhinoceros endemic to Eastern Europe and Central Asia with isolated finds from East Asia during Late Miocene through to the Late Pleistocene, with the youngest reliable dates around 39,000 years ago. It was the last surviving member of Elasmotheriinae, a distinctive group of rhinoceroses separate from the group that contains living rhinoceros (Rhinocerotinae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhinoceros</span> Family of mammals

A rhinoceros, commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae; it can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species of the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea. Two of the extant species are native to Africa, and three to South and Southeast Asia.

<i>Diceros</i> Genus of Rhinocerotidae

Diceros is a genus of rhinoceros containing the extant black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) and several extinct species.

<i>Dicerorhinus</i> Genus of mammals

Dicerorhinus is a genus of the family Rhinocerotidae, consisting of a single extant species, the two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros, and several extinct species. The genus likely originated from the Late Miocene of central Myanmar. Many species previously placed in this genus probably belong elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White rhinoceros</span> Species of large land mammal

The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists of two subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 16,803 wild-living animals, and the much rarer northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies has very few remaining individuals, with only two confirmed left in 2018. Sudan, the world's last known male northern white rhinoceros, died in Kenya on 19 March 2018 at age 45.

<i>Rhinoceros</i> (genus) Genus of mammals

Rhinoceros is a genus comprising one-horned rhinoceroses. This scientific name was proposed by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus contains two species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. Although both members are threatened, the Javan rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world with only 60 individuals surviving in Java (Indonesia). The word 'rhinoceros' is of Greek origin meaning "nose-horn".

<i>Ancylotherium</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Ancylotherium is an extinct genus of the family Chalicotheriidae, subfamily Schizotheriinae, endemic to Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Late Miocene-Early Pleistocene, existing for approximately 9.8 million years.

<i>Sinotherium</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Sinotherium is an extinct genus of single-horned elasmotheriine rhinocerotids that lived from the late Miocene to Early Pliocene. It was ancestral to Elasmotherium, demonstrating a very important evolutionary transition from nasal-horned elasmotheriines to frontal-horned elasmotheriines. Its fossils have been found in the Karabulak Formation of Kazakhstan, lower jaw and teeth have been found in Mongolia, and a partial skull is known from the upper part of the Liushu Formation of western China. Sinotherium diverged from the ancestral genus, Iranotherium, first found in Iran, during the early Pliocene. Some experts prefer to lump Sinotherium, and Iranotherium into Elasmotherium.

<i>Chilotherium</i> Extinct genus of rhiniceros

Chilotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotids endemic to Eurasia during the Miocene through Pliocene living for 13.7—3.4 mya, existing for approximately 10.3 million years.

Ceratotherium mauritanicum is a species of fossil African rhinoceros found in the Late Pliocene to early Late Pleistocene of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. It is disputed as to whether remains from the Pliocene of East Africa belong to this species, and if so, whether C. mauritanicum is ancestral to the modern white rhinoceros. During the early Late Pleistocene, sometime between 120,000–57,000 years ago, it was replaced in North Africa by the modern white rhinoceros.

<i>Ceratotherium neumayri</i> Extinct species of rhinoceros

Ceratotherium neumayri is a fossil species of rhinoceros from the Late Miocene (Vallesian-Turolian) of the Balkans and Western Asia, with remains known from Greece, Bulgaria, Iran, and Anatolia in Turkey.

Paracamelus is an extinct genus of camel in the family Camelidae. It originated in North America Around 8-7 Ma, and crossed the Beringian land bridge into Eurasia during the Late Miocene, about 6 million years ago (Ma). It is the presumed ancestor to living camels of the genus Camelus.

<i>Stephanorhinus</i> Extinct genus of rhinoceros

Stephanorhinus is an extinct genus of two-horned rhinoceros native to Eurasia and North Africa that lived during the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene. Species of Stephanorhinus were the predominant and often only species of rhinoceros in much of temperate Eurasia, especially Europe, for most of the Pleistocene. The last two species of Stephanorhinus – Merck's rhinoceros and the narrow-nosed rhinoceros – went extinct during the last glacial period.

<i>Brachypotherium</i> Extinct genus of rhinoceros

Brachypotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived in Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrow-nosed rhinoceros</span> Extinct species of rhinoceros

The narrow-nosed rhinoceros, also known as the steppe rhinoceros is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus that lived in western Eurasia, including Europe, as well as North Africa during the Pleistocene. It first appeared in Europe around 500,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene and survived there until at least 34,000 years Before Present. It was native to temperate and Mediterranean environments, where it fed on low growing plants and to a lesser extent woody plants. Evidence has been found that it was exploited for food by archaic humans, including Neanderthals.

Diceros praecox is an extinct species of rhinoceros that lived in Africa during the Pliocene, around 4 million years ago. It has been suggested to be the direct ancestor of the living black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis).

<i>Dihoplus</i> Extinct genus of rhinoceros

Dihoplus is an extinct genus of rhinoceros that lived in Eurasia from the Late Miocene to Pliocene.

<i>Pliorhinus</i> Extinct genus of rhinoceros

Pliorhinus is an extinct genus of rhinoceros known from the Late Miocene and Pliocene of Eurasia. The type species, Pliorhinus megarhinus, was previously assigned to Dihoplus.

References

  1. "Fossilworks: Ceratotherium".
  2. "Glossary. American Museum of Natural History". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 Giaourtsakis, Ioannis X. (2022), Vlachos, Evangelos (ed.), "The Fossil Record of Rhinocerotids (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Rhinocerotidae) in Greece", Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 2, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 409–500, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_14, ISBN   978-3-030-68441-9 , retrieved 2023-11-20
  4. Geraads, D. (2020). "Perissodactyla (Rhinocerotidae and Equidae) from Kanapoi" (PDF). J. Hum. Evol. 140. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.013. PMID   28966048.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Aouraghe, Hassan; van der Made, Jan; Haddoumi, Hamid; Agustí, Jordi; Benito-Calvo, Alfonso; Rodríguez-Hidalgo, Antonio; Lazagabaster, Ignacio A.; Souhir, Mohamed; Mhamdi, Hicham; El Atmani, Abderrahman; Ewague, Abdelhadi; Sala-Ramos, Robert; Chacón, M. Gema (2022-10-03). "New materials of the white rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum and auerochs Bos primigenius from a Late Pleistocene terrace of the Oued el Haï (NE Morocco) - two elements of the Maghrebi Palearctic fauna". Historical Biology. 34 (10): 1981–1999. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1995381. ISSN   0891-2963.
  6. Geraads, Denis (2005). "Pliocene Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from Hadar and Dikka (Lower Awash, Ethiopia), and a revision of the origin of modern African rhinos" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (2): 451–461. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0451:PRMFHA]2.0.CO;2. JSTOR   4524458.
  7. 1 2 3 Pandolfi, Luca; Marra, Antonella Cinzia; Carone, Giuseppe; Maiorino, Leonardo; Rook, Lorenzo (2021-02-01). "A new rhinocerotid (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) from the latest Miocene of Southern Italy". Historical Biology. 33 (2): 194–208. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1602615. ISSN   0891-2963.