Stephanorhinus hemitoechus

The narrow-nosed rhinoceros, also known as the steppe rhinoceros, is an extinct species of rhinoceros belonging to the genus Stephanorhinus that lived in western Eurasia, including Europe, and West Asia, as well as North Africa during the Pleistocene. It first appeared in Europe around 500,000 years ago during the Middle Pleistocene and survived there until 34,000 years Before Present, possibly surviving as late as 15,500 years ago in the Middle East. On average around 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) in weight, it was comparable in size to the living black rhinoceros. The species was native to temperate and Mediterranean environments, ranging from forest to grasslands, where it fed on low growing plants and to a lesser extent woody plants. It reached its maximum geographical extent during interglacial periods, when its range would extend at least as far north as Germany and northern England. It was one of the last species of Stephanorhinus alongside Merck's rhinoceros, with the two species occurring alongside each other in some parts of Europe and the Caucasus. Evidence has been found that the narrow-nosed rhinoceros was exploited for food by archaic humans, including Neanderthals. Like other Stephanorhinus species, its closest living relative is the Sumatran rhinoceros.

Stephanorhinus hemitoechus

Ghedoghedo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
StephanorhinusPBDB
Diet
browserPBDB, for Rhinocerotidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Rhinocerotidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 645 thousand years on record.

The record covers at least 774 ka to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Pliocene — about 0 of 28 occurrencesPleistocene — about 28 of 28 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 28 occurrences2.7–2.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.6–2.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.5–2.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.4–2.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.3–2.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.2–2.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.1–2.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.0–1.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.8–1.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.6–1.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.5–1.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.4–1.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.3–1.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.2–1.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.1–1.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.0–924 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences924 ka–821 ka Mya — about 0.2 occurrences821 ka–719 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence719 ka–616 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences616 ka–513 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences513 ka–411 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences411 ka–308 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences308 ka–205 ka Mya — about 3 occurrences205 ka–103 ka Mya — about 4 occurrences103 ka–0 Mya — about 7 occurrences774 ka129 ka3.08 Mya0 Mya

28 occurrences of Stephanorhinus hemitoechus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

28 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Latamne — 35.13°N, 36.75°EUnterer Travertin — 50.97°N, 11.35°EOberer Travertin II — 50.97°N, 11.35°E

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The named rock units Stephanorhinus hemitoechus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 25 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Stephanorhinus hemitoechus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Stephanorhinus hemitoechus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

275 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 28 sites for Stephanorhinus hemitoechus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

17 references

Each of the 28 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 5 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Stephanorhinus hemitoechus

Credit
Ghedoghedo
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Structured light scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Stephanorhinus hemitoechus · mdc:PP 255

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itStephanorhinus through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Falconer 1868)