Lartetotherium

Lartetotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived during the Miocene in Europe^[1] and possibly China.^[2]

Skull

Lartetotherium Temporal range: Miocene
Lartetotherium sansaniense skull
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
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

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]

Palaeoecology

Analysis of δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values suggests that L. sansaniense was an inhabitant of relatively open environments.^[5]

References

1. Antoine, P. O.; Bulot, C.; Ginsburg, L. O. (2000). "Les rhinocérotidés (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) de l'Orléanien des bassins de la Garonne et de la Loire (France) : Intérêt biostratigraphique". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA. 330 (8): 571. Bibcode:2000CRASE.330..571A. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(00)00174-9.
2. Deng, T.; Li, S., 2023. Restudy of Rhinocerotini fossils from the Miocene Jiulongkou fauna of China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 61: 198-211 - DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.230630
3. Henke, Winfried; Tattersall, Ian (2007). Handbook of Paleoanthropology: Vol I:Principles, Methods and Approaches Vol II:Primate Evolution and Human Origins Vol III:Phylogeny of Hominids. Springer. p. 981.
4. Tong, Hao-wen (2012). "Evolution of the non-Coelodonta dicerorhine lineage in China". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 11 (8): 555–562. Bibcode:2012CRPal..11..555T. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2012.06.002.
5. Aiglstorfer, Manuela; Bocherens, Hervé; Böhme, Madelaine (18 February 2014). "Large mammal ecology in the late Middle Miocene Gratkorn locality (Austria)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 94 (1): 189–213. doi:10.1007/s12549-013-0145-5. ISSN 1867-1594. Retrieved 27 November 2024 – via Springer Nature Link.