''Ronzotherium'' is an extinct genus of

perissodactyl Perissodactyla (, ), or odd-toed ungulates, is an order of Ungulate, ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three Family (biology), families: Equidae (wild horse, horses, Asinus, asses, and zebras), Rhinocerotidae ( ...

mammal from the family

Rhinocerotidae A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

. The name derives from the hill of 'Ronzon', the French locality near Le Puy-en-Velay at which it was first discovered, and the Greek suffix 'therium' meaning 'beast'. At present 5 species have been identified from several localities in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, spanning the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

to Upper

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

(37 - 23 million years ago).

Description

''Ronzotherium'' was a small to mid-sized rhinocerotid. Smaller species weighed in the region of 1t, while larger species could reach 1.9t in weight.Damien Becker: ''Earliest record of rhinocerotoids (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) from Switzerland: systematics and biostratigraphy.''

Swiss Journal of Geosciences Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

102, 2009, S. 489–504 The genus was similar in weight to the extant

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis''), also called the black rhino or the hooked-lip rhinoceros, is a species of rhinoceros native to East Africa, East and Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Moza ...

although with an overall more slender and gracile build, with a long humerus and femur in comparison to other rhinocerotids. The genus shows a trend for increased size, with later species being considerably larger than some of its first representatives. ''Ronzotherium'' did not possess a nasal horn. Instead the nasal bones were retracted, suggesting the presence of a large prehensile upper lip like those seen in modern rhinoceros species. The lower incisors of ''Ronzotherium'' were long and tusk- like, with a large diastema in the lower jaw between the incisors and other teeth. The upper incisors were much smaller. The forelimbs were tetradactyl with a prominent central metapodal. The hindlimbs however were tridactyl, with three toes.

Classification

Ronzotherium is a basal

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

within the family Rhinocerotidae, one of three families contained within the

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Rhinocerotoidea Rhinocerotoidea is a superfamily (taxonomy), superfamily of Perissodactyla, perissodactyls that appeared 56 million years ago in the Paleocene. They included four extinct families, the Amynodontidae, the Hyracodontidae, the Paraceratheriidae, an ...

, along with the

Hyracodontidae The Hyracodontidae are an extinction, extinct Family (biology), family of rhinocerotoids endemic to North America, Europe, and Asia during the Eocene through early Oligocene, living from 48.6 to 26.3 million years ago (Mya), existing about . The ...

and

Amynodontidae Amynodontidae ("defensive tooth") is a family of extinct perissodactyls related to true rhinoceroses. They are commonly portrayed as semiaquatic hippo-like rhinos but this description only fits members of the Metamynodontini; other groups of ...

. The family also contains all 5 extant rhinoceros species. 5 species have been identified within the genus: * ''Ronzotherium velaunum'' (Aymard, 1853) * ''Ronzotherium filholi'' (Osborn, 1900) * ''Ronzotherium romani'' (Kretzoi, 1945) * ''Ronzotherium orientale'' (Dashzeveg, 1991) * ''Ronzotherium brevirostre'' (Beliajeva, 1954) The 3 European species are believed to have dispersed into Europe during the lower

Rupelian The Rupelian is, in the geologic timescale, the older of two age (geology), ages or the lower of two stage (stratigraphy), stages of the Oligocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . It is preceded b ...

as part of the

Grande Coupure Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany * Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas * Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) * Ar ...

, and were seemingly widespread in the post-grande coupure fauna of Europe, with fossils discovered in Rupelian deposits from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. ''Ronzotherium brevirostre'' and ''Ronzotherium'' ''orientale'' are known exclusively from the Late Eocene of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. Further material has been found in the Linxia basin in China's gansu province.Tao Deng: ''Late Cenozoic environmental changes in the Linxia basin (Gansu, China) as indicated by cenograms of fossil Mammals.'' Vertebrata PalAsiatica 47 (4), 2009, S. 282–298

Palaeobiology

Isotope analysis of teeth discovered at Rickenbach in Switzerland has shown that european ''Ronzotherium'' species were adapted to the increasingly drier climate and open landscapes of the post-grande coupure Oligocene. The low crowned dentition suggests that ''Ronzotherium'' was a browser, feeding on the leaves of shrubs, bushes, and small trees.Bastien Mennecart, Laureline Scherler, Florent Hiard, Damien Becker und Jean-Pierre Berger: ''Large mammals from Rickenbach (Switzerland, reference locality MP29, Late Oligocene): biostratigraphic and alaeoenvironmental implications.''

131 (1), 2012, S. 161–181 This is supported by the presence of the a prehensile upper lip which is used by modern rhinocerotids to browse on foliage. The gracile build and long limb bones found in ''Ronzotherium'' suggest that it could have been capable of sustained running.

Ichnology

Fossil rhinocerotid trackways assigned to the

ichnotaxon An ichnotaxon (plural ichnotaxa) is "a taxon based on the fossilized work of an organism", i.e. the non-human equivalent of an artifact. ''Ichnotaxon'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''íchnos'') meaning "track" and English , itself derived from ...

''Rhinoceripeda voconsense'' (Vialov 1966) have been discovered at two sites in the

Luberon The Luberon ( or ; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Leberon'' or ''Leberoun'' ) is a massif in central Provence in Southern France, part of the French Prealps. It has a maximum elevation of and an area of about . It is composed of three mounta ...

Natural Regional Park in southeast France. The trackways are preserved in the Calcaires de La Fayette, a

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

lacustrian deposit dating to the lower Rupelian, and are exposed at

Saignon Saignon (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. The nearest town is Apt, to the northwest. There is a bakery/cafe, two restaurants, and a general store. The school has abo ...

and Viens. Various other trackways including

artiodactyls Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other thre ...

and possibly

creodonts Creodonta ("meat teeth") is a former order of extinct carnivorous placental mammals that lived from the early Paleocene to the late Miocene epochs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Originally thought to be a single group of animals ances ...

are also present. Based on the 1974 discovery of a ''Ronzotherium velaunum'' mandible in lower Oligocene strata at Viens, the tracks are attributed to ''Ronzotherium''.

Localities

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom rare isolated teeth and bone fragments, attributed to ''Ronzotherium romani,'' have been found from the Rupelian aged

Bouldnor Formation The Bouldnor Formation is a geological formation in the Hampshire Basin of southern England. It is the youngest formation of the Solent Group and was deposited during the uppermost Eocene and lower Oligocene. Stratotype and occurrence The Bo ...

on the

Isle Of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

. Here ''Ronzotherium'' formed part of the post-grande coupure fauna alongside

anthracotheres Anthracotheriidae is a paraphyletic family of extinct, hippopotamus-like artiodactyl ungulates related to hippopotamuses and whales. The oldest genus, '' Elomeryx'', first appeared during the middle Eocene in Asia. They thrived in Africa and Eura ...

entelodont Entelodontidae is an extinct family of pig-like artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) which inhabited the Northern Hemisphere (Asia, Europe, and North America) from the late Eocene to the early Miocene epochs, about 38-19 million years ago. Their ...

s, and a variety of other Asian derived groups.

France

Ronzotherium remains have been recovered from numerous Oligocene sites throughout France. In the Rupelian strata of the Paris Basin material attributed to ''R.romani'' has been collected from Etampes and Ferte-Alais. In south-western France the fossiliferous

Quercy Phosphorites Formation The Quercy Phosphorites Formation (French language, French: ''Phosphorites du Quercy''; ) is a Formation (geology), geologic formation and lagerstätte in Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie, southern France. It preserves fossils dated to ...

has produced Ronzotherium material, including an intact

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

. A large majority of France's ''Ronzotherium'' material comes from the Oligocene deposits of the Luberon Massif, northwest of the city of Marseille. Here fossil trackways and bone fragments of Ronzotherium dating from the early Oligocene have been discovered at the villages of Saignon and Viens. Further south at Les Milles bone fragments and a nearly intact mandible have been collected. Finds have also come from the city of Marseille itself. At Saint-Henri and Saint-Andre in the north of the city 50 fragments of bone and dentition have been recovered, including a mandible and semi-intact upper jaw

Germany

The

Espenhain Espenhain is a village and a former municipality in the Leipzig district, in Saxony, Germany. On 1 August 2015 it was merged into the town Rötha.Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

have produced a series of ''Ronzotherium'' teeth. The locality, south of

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, exposes the Bohn Formation, a predominantly marine sequence of Rupelian age that has preserved a rich terrestrial fauna of post-grande coupure mammals.

Switzerland

Switzerland preserves the oldest, and some of the youngest evidence of the genus in Europe. At Kleinblauen and

Bressaucourt Bressaucourt is a former municipality in the district of Porrentruy in the canton of Jura in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Bressaucourt merged into the municipality of Fontenais. At the late Oligocene locality of Rickenbach 35 fragments of cranial and post-cranial material have been recovered from Chattian strata.

Asia

The late eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation in Mongolia has produced the remains of two species of ''Ronzotherium''; ''R.brevirostre'' and ''R.orientale.'' This is the earliest known occurrence of the genus, dated at 37 million years ago. Further asian finds come from the Late Oligocene of China's Linxia Basin, where an unspecified species of ''Ronzotherium'' lived alongside a diversity of other late Paleogene rhinocerotids.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3388673 Prehistoric placental genera Prehistoric rhinoceroses Eocene rhinoceroses Oligocene rhinoceroses Fossil taxa described in 1854 Oligocene mammals of Europe Oligocene mammals of Asia