Pliorhinus

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.

Pliorhinus Temporal range: Late Miocene–Pliocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Skull of Pliorhinus megarhinus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Rhinocerotidae
Subtribe:	Rhinocerotina
Genus:	†Pliorhinus Pandolfi et al., 2021
Species
Pliorhinus megarhinus (de Christol, 1834) (type) Pliorhinus miguelcrusafonti (Guérin & Santafé-Lopis, 1978) Pliorhinus ringstoemi (Arambourg, 1959)

Description

Species of Pliorhinus are large sized two horned rhinoceroses,^[1] with some individuals of P. megarhinus suggested to have a body mass of around 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb).^[2] Their skulls have a nasal notch located above the molars, and are distinguished from other rhinoceroses by various characters of the teeth. P. megarhinus is noted for having a relatively flat skull roof.^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus was named in 2021 to accommodate two species that had previously been included in a wide variety of rhinoceros genera, including Dihoplus and Stephanorhinus.^[1]

• P. megarhinus (de Christol, 1834) known from the Late Miocene-Pliocene of Europe, Anatolia, and Transbaikalia,^[3][4] spanning from around 6.7-3.5 million years ago.^[2]
• P. miguelcrusafonti (Guérin & Santafé-Lopis, 1978) known from the Pliocene of Europe
• P. ringstoemi (Arambourg, 1959), Late Miocene of China. (previously synonymised with P. megarhinus,^[3] but now regarded as distinct^[5])

Species of Pliorhinus are suggested to be closely related and possibly ancestral to Stephanorhinus.^[6]

Morphological phylogeny after Pandolfi (2023), excluding living African rhinoceros species.^[6]

Rhinocerotina Gaindatherium browni Lartetotherium sansaniense Nesorhinus Nesorhinus hayasakai Nesorhinus philippinensis Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus (Javan rhinoceros) Rhinoceros unicornis (Indian rhinoceros) Dicerorhinus Dicerorhinus gwebinensis Dicerorhinus fusuiensis Dicerorhinus sumatrensis (Sumatran rhinoceros) Dihoplus schleiermacheri "Dihoplus" pikermiensis Coelodonta Coelodonta thibetana Coelodonta nihowanensis Coelodonta tologoijensis Coelodonta antiquitatis (woolly rhinoceros) Pliorhinus Pliorhinus megarhinus Pliorhinus miguelcrusafonti Stephanorhinus Stephanorhinus jeanvireti Stephanorhinus etruscus Stephanorhinus hundsheimensis Stephanorhinus hemitoechus (Narrow-nosed or steppe rhinoceros) Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Merck's or forest rhinoceros)

Ecology

P. megarhinus is suggested to have been a browser or mixed feeder.^[7]

References

1. Pandolfi, Luca; Pierre-Olivier, Antoine; Bukhsianidze, Maia; Lordkipanidze, David; Rook, Lorenzo (2021-08-03). "Northern Eurasian rhinocerotines (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) by the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition: phylogeny and historical biogeography". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (15): 1031–1057. Bibcode:2021JSPal..19.1031P. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.1995907. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 244762077.
2. Pandolfi, Luca; Collareta, Alberto; Nowakowski, Dariusz; Bianucci, Giovanni; Rook, Lorenzo (July 2024). "New early Pliocene Rhinocerotidae findings from Tuscany (Italy) and the Pliocene rhinocerotine record in Italy". Geobios. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.012.
3. Pandolfi, Luca; Gasparik, Mihály; Piras, Paolo (2015). "Earliest occurrence of "Dihoplus" megarhinus (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae) in Europe (Late Miocene, Pannonian Basin, Hungary): Palaeobiogeographical and biochronological implications". Annales de Paléontologie. 101 (4): 325–339. Bibcode:2015AnPal.101..325P. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2015.09.001.
4. Pandolfi, Luca; Rivals, Florent; Rabinovich, Rivka (January 2020). "A new species of rhinoceros from the site of Bethlehem: 'Dihoplus' bethlehemsis sp. nov. (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae)". Quaternary International. 537: 48–60. Bibcode:2020QuInt.537...48P. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2020.01.011. S2CID 213080180.
5. Li, Shijie; Sanisidro, Oscar; Wang, Shiqi; Yang, Rong; Deng, Tao (March 2024). "New materials of Pliorhinus ringstroemi from the Linxia Basin (Late Miocene, eastern Asia) and their taxonomical and evolutionary implications". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 31 (1). doi:10.1007/s10914-023-09698-w. ISSN 1064-7554. S2CID 267352083.
6. Pandolfi, Luca (April 2023). "Reassessing the phylogeny of Quaternary Eurasian Rhinocerotidae". Journal of Quaternary Science. 38 (3): 291–294. Bibcode:2023JQS....38..291P. doi:10.1002/jqs.3496. hdl:11563/163194. ISSN 0267-8179.
7. Ballatore, Manuel (2016). "Palaeoecological investigations on Plio-Pleistocene European rhinoceroses (Genus Stephanorhinus): powder X-ray diffraction, carbon isotope geochemistry, tooth wear analyses and biometry". Plinius (42): 16–19. doi:10.19276/plinius.2016.01001. ISSN 1972-1366.