Lartetotherium Explained

Lartetotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived during the Miocene in Europe^[1] and possibly China.^[2]

The type species Lartetotherium sansaniense was a unique cursorial rhinoceros with a distinctly long horn. Its teeth were brachyodont, indicating its diet contained a high quantity of soft plants and a lower proportion of woody material.^[3]

A 2023 study reassigned the species Dicerorhinus cixianensis (Chen and Wu, 1976) from the Middle Miocene of Cixian County, Hebei Province, China, to the genus. The species is known from a single partial skull and juvenile mandible, notably small in size.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Antoine . P. O. . Bulot . C. . Ginsburg . L. O. . 2000 . Les rhinocérotidés (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) de l'Orléanien des bassins de la Garonne et de la Loire (France) : Intérêt biostratigraphique . Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA . 330 . 8 . 571 . 2000CRASE.330..571A . 10.1016/S1251-8050(00)00174-9.
2. Deng, T.; Li, S., 2023. Restudy of Rhinocerotini fossils from the Miocene Jiulongkou fauna of China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 61: 198-211 - DOI: 10.19615/j.cnki.2096-9899.230630
3. Book: Henke . Winfried . Tattersall . Ian . Handbook of Paleoanthropology: Vol I:Principles, Methods and Approaches Vol II:Primate Evolution and Human Origins Vol III:Phylogeny of Hominids . 2007 . Springer . 981.
4. Tong . Hao-wen . 2012 . Evolution of the non-Coelodonta dicerorhine lineage in China . Comptes Rendus Palevol . 11 . 8 . 555–562 . 10.1016/j.crpv.2012.06.002. 2012CRPal..11..555T .