Brachypotherium

Brachypotherium is an extinct genus of rhinoceros that lived in Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene.[1] A first upper decidual molar referrable to Brachypotherium brachypus was found during gold mining in New Caledonia during the 19th century, being misidentified as a species of marsupial known as Zygomaturus.[2] However, rhinoceros were never native to New Caledonia, and the tooth was probably used as jewelry by a French convict deported there.[3]

Brachypotherium
Temporal range: Miocene
Mandible
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Subfamily: Aceratheriinae
Genus: Brachypotherium
Roger, 1904
Type species
Brachypotherium brachypus
Lartet, 1848
Species
  • B. brachypus
  • B. goldfussi
  • B. lewisi
  • B. minor
  • B. perimense

Many species of Brachypotherium have been described. Some species have moved to other genera, such as B. aurelianense being transferred to Diaceratherium.[4] The genus was widespread during the Early and Middle Miocene, before heading into a decline. They went extinct in Eurasia by the beginning of the Late Miocene, with the African species B. lewisi surviving until the end of the epoch.[5]

References

  1. Wilson, R. (1993). "Importance of the field occurrence of the rhinocerotid Brachypotherium americanum Yatkola and Tanner, 1979". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 13 (2): 270. Bibcode:1993JVPal..13..270W. doi:10.1080/02724634.1993.10011507.
  2. Guerin, Claude; Winslow, John H.; Piboule, Michel; Faure, Martine (January 1981). "Le prétendu rhinocéros de Nouvelle Calédonie est un marsupial (Zygomaturus diahotensis nov. sp.)". Geobios. 14 (2): 201–217. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(81)80004-6. ISSN 0016-6995.
  3. Antoine, Pierre-Olivier (March 2012). "Pleistocene and Holocene rhinocerotids (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Indochinese Peninsula". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 11 (2–3): 159–168. Bibcode:2012CRPal..11..159A. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.002. ISSN 1631-0683.
  4. Prothero, Donald R. (2005). The Evolution of North American Rhinoceroses. Cambridge University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780521832403.
  5. Handa, N. (2020). "Brachypotherium perimense (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand, with comments on fossil records of Brachypotherium". Historical Biology. 33 (9): 1642–1660. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1723578. S2CID 214240702.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.