Lartetotherium Temporal range: Miocene | |
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Lartetotherium sansaniense skull | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
Genus: | † Lartetotherium Ginsburg, 1974 |
Species: | †L. sansaniense |
Binomial name | |
†Lartetotherium sansaniense Ginsburg, 1974 | |
Synonyms | |
Dicerorhinus sansaniensis |
Lartetotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived during the Miocene in Europe [1] and possibly China. [2]
The type species Lartetotherium sansaniense was a unique cursorial rhinoceros with a distinctly long horn. Its teeth were brachyodont, indicating its diet contained a high quantity of soft plants and a lower proportion of woody material. [3]
A 2023 study reassigned the species Dicerorhinus cixianensis (Chen and Wu, 1976) from the Middle Miocene of Cixian County, Hebei Province, China, to the genus. [2] The species is known from a single partial skull and juvenile mandible, notably small in size. [4]
Analysis of δ18O and δ13C values suggests that L. sansaniense was an inhabitant of relatively open environments. [5]