 Reference Base  A critical overview on Early Pleistocene Eurasian Stephan... |
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Pandolfi, L., 2022. A critical overview on Early Pleistocene Eurasian Stephanorhinus (Mammalia, Rhinocerotidae): Implications for taxonomy and paleobiogeography. Quaternary International 674-675: 109-120 - doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.11.008
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Ecology |
| Species: |
Fossil |
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Abstract - Isolated teeth and bones of rhinoceroses are sometimes difficult to identify at specific level because our poor knowledge of the morphological variability of fossil and, often, of extant species. During the past century, several studies have been devoted to highlight morphological and morphometric differences among the fossil Pleistocene species, but only a few of them considered the variability of the extant taxa, in particular Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, to support and interpret their results. Dicerorhinus sumatrensis is the closest extant relative of the Eurasian Stephanorhinus, as recently evidenced by molecular analyses, and it provides useful data to better understand the variability in extinct Pleistocene Eurasian taxa. Taking into account the observations on the extant Sumatran rhinoceros, the validity of some morphological traits, often used for specific attribution in Early Pleistocene fossil rhinoceroses, is revised. Sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic stage drive the development of some important features in Eurasian rhinoceroses and a detailed comparison among crania lead to new considerations on taxonomy, and, therefore, on paleobiogeography and biochronology of the different species.
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