Nesorhinus
Nesorhinus Temporal range:
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Skeletal mount of N. hayasakai | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Perissodactyla |
Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
Subfamily: | Rhinocerotinae
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Tribe: | Rhinocerotini
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Subtribe: | Rhinocerotina
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Genus: | †Nesorhinus Antoine et al., 2021 |
Type species | |
Nesorhinus philippinensis (von Koenigswald, 1956)
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Other species | |
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Nesorhinus is an extinct genus of rhinoceros from the Pleistocene of Asia. It contains two species, Nesorhinus philippinensis (formerly Rhinoceros philippinensis) from Luzon, Philippines and Nesorhinus hayasakai (formerly Rhinoceros sinensis hayasakai) from Taiwan.[1]
Discovery
Nesorhinus philippinensis was first described by Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald in 1956 as Rhinoceros philippinensis based on fossil teeth that were excavated in Cagayan province of Luzon island the Philippines in 1936.[2] These bones were lost and he did not provide for a holotype.[3] A fossilized jaw of N. philippinensis was unearthed by Mr. de Asis on May 13, 1965 in the Fort Bonifacio area. The specimen was unearthed from an ash deposit produced by the volcano called the Guadalupe Formation. The specimen had a length of 12.07 centimeters (4.75 in), width of 6.87 centimeters (2.70 in), and a thickness of 9.47 centimeters (3.73 in). It has a weight of 800 grams (28 oz).[4]
A 75-percent complete fossil of the N. philippinensis was unearthed in
The earliest record of rhino fossils in Taiwan dates back to 1926, when Sato collected mandibular bone and molar from Neizha of Daxi Street (present-day Daxi District, Taoyuan City). A few years later, Ichiro Hayasaka of Taihoku Imperial University also rediscovered a more complete mandible near the site of Sato's specimen. In 1942, Hayasaka pointed out that in addition to Daxi, there were other sites like Dakeng (present-day Dakeng, Beitun District, Taichung City), Zuojhenzhuang (present-day Zuojhen District, Tainan City) and Qihou (present-day Qijin District, Kaohsiung City) are all suspected to have records of new fossil species of Rhinoceros.[7]
In 1971, when the fossil collector Chang-Wu Pan visited Zuojhen, he received several fossilized rhinoceros teeth from a local elementary school student, Shih-Ching Chen, who had found them in the riverbed of Cailiao River. Pan and Chen investigated where the rhinoceros teeth were found and speculated that the fossils had been washed out of the mudrock layer along the riverbed, and that there might be remaining rhinoceros fossils in the rock layer. This discovery was conveyed to Prof. Chao-Chi Lin of National Taiwan University. In December 1971, a team was formed by Taiwan Provincial Museum, including Prof. Chao-Chi Lin, Chang-Wu Pan, and Chun-Mu Chen (a well-known fossil collector from Zuojhen) to conduct the first excavation in Zuojhen to excavate rhinoceros fossils including teeth and limb bones, but some limb bones were still preserved in the original stratum. In 1972, the team was joined by Japanese paleontologists Tokio Shikama and Hiroyuki Otsuka for the second excavation, and the remaining limb bones were excavated. The species was named as R. sinensis hayasakai by Otsuka & Lin in 1984, named in honour of Ichiro Hayasaka.[8] It is known remains found in Taiwan dating to the Early and Middle Pleistocene.[1]
Description
Both species are relatively small, and comparable in size to living Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros, with shoulder heights of 123–131 centimetres (4.04–4.30 ft), with Nesorhinus hayasaki being somewhat larger than N. philippinensis with an estimated body mass of approximately 1,018–1,670 kilograms (2,244–3,682 lb), in comparison to 998–1,185 kilograms (2,200–2,612 lb) estimated for N. philippinensis.[1] Nesorhinus hayasakai has three autapomorphic features, all of which are present on the teeth: present of crochet on P2-4, absence of lingual cingulum on the upper molars, and trigonid on the lower cheek teeth are acutely dihedral in the occlusal plane.[1]
Evolution
It is suggested Nesorhinus island-hopped from the Asian mainland to Taiwan and Luzon sometime during the Late Miocene or later, probably from the Asian mainland to Taiwan and then from Taiwan to Luzon. It has been suggested to be closely related to the genus Rhinoceros, which contains the living Indian rhinoceros and Javan rhinoceros.[1]
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Paleoecology
The fossils of Nesorhinus hayasakai from Zuojhen belong to the Chiting Formation, which is a interbeded sandstone and shale facies, with a geological age of about 990,000 to 460,000 years ago (
References
- ^ .
- ^ von Koenigswald, G. H. R. (1956). "Fossil mammals from the Philippines". Proceedings of the Fourth Far-Eastern Prehistory and the Anthropology Division of the 8th Pacific Science Congresses Combined. Part 1: Prehistory, Archaeology and Physical Anthropology (Second Fascicle, Section 1): 339–369.
- ISBN 9781444391282. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ "Rhinoceros philippinensis" (in Filipino). National Museum of the Philippines. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ S2CID 13742336.
- ^ Tarlach, Gemma (2 May 2018). "Hominin Head-Scratcher: Who Butchered This Rhino 709,000 Years Ago?". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
- ^ Hayasaka, I. (1942). "On the occurrence of mammalian remains in Taiwan: a preliminary summary". Taiwan Tikagu Kizi. 13 (4): 95-109.
- ^ Otsuka, H.; Lin, C. C. (1984). "Fossil rhinoceros from the Toukoushan Group in Taiwan" (PDF). Journal of Taiwan Museum. 37 (1): 1-35. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ISSN 0267-8179.
- ^ 魏, 國彥 (2007). "臺灣第四紀哺乳動物化石研究的回顧與前瞻". 經濟部中央地質調查所特刊. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- from the original on 2023-03-29. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- .