Brachypotherium

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

Brachypotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived in Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene.[1]

Many species of Brachypotherium have been described. Some species have moved to other genera, such as B. aurelianense being transferred to Diaceratherium.[2] 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.[3]

A first upper decidual molar referable 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.[4] However, rhinoceros were never native to New Caledonia, and the tooth likely originates from France and was probably used as jewelry by a French convict deported there.[5][6]

  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. ^ Prothero, Donald R. (2005). The Evolution of North American Rhinoceroses. Cambridge University Press. p. 97. ISBN 9780521832403.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Affholder, Oscar; Antoine, Pierre-Olivier; Beck, Robin M.D. (September 2024). "The "Diahot Tooth" is a Miocene rhinocerotid fossil brought by humans to New Caledonia". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 31 (3). doi:10.1007/s10914-024-09723-6. ISSN 1064-7554.