Plesiaceratherium

Plesiaceratherium
Plesiaceratherium skull, Paläontologische Museum München
P. gracile skeletal reconstruction.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
Subfamily: †Aceratheriinae
Genus: †Plesiaceratherium
Young, 1937[1]
Species
  • Plesiaceratherium gracile
  • Plesiaceratherium mirallesi

Plesiaceratherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotids.[2] It includes two species: P. gracile from China and P. mirallesi from France.

Plesiaceratherium gracile was a mid-sized, hornless species of rhinoceros. Estimated size is 2.8–3.1 m (9.2–10.2 ft) in head-body length, 1.4–1.6 m (4.6–5.2 ft) in shoulder height, and 1,198 kg (2,641 lb) in weight. Males had significantly larger incisors than females and had more robust heads and bodies (although females may have had longer heads and limbs), and combined with their large body size it suggests that this species was polygynous and had a solitary lifestyle.[3]

Sexual Dimorphism
Skulls: female (A), male (B).
Incisors: male (A), female (B).
  1. ^ "Plesiaceratherium". Fossilworks.
  2. ^ Tao, D.; Downs, W. (2010). "Evolution of Chinese Neogene Rhinocerotidae and Its Response to Climatic Variations" (PDF). Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition. 76 (2): 139. doi:10.1111/j.1755-6724.2002.tb00080.x. S2CID 128417075.
  3. ^ Lu, X. (2020). "Sexual Dimorphism and Body Reconstruction of a Hornless Rhinocerotid, Plesiaceratherium gracile, From the Early Miocene of the Shanwang Basin, Shandong, China". Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 8. doi:10.3389/fevo.2020.544076.