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Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from the Late Miocene of Bulgaria

2009; Volume: 287; Issue: 4-6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1127/pala/287/2009/99

2509-8373

Denis Geraads, Nikolaï Spassov,

Bat Biology and Ecology Studies

We describe the remains of Rhinocerotidae from about 10 Late Miocene localities of Bulgaria, the main ones being Kalimantsi and Hadjidimovo, and the newly discovered site of Strumyani.At least seven species are represented, mostly by cranial elements.A skull is assigned to Chilotherium kiliasi, a species for which a new sub-genus, Eochilotherium, is established.Some fragmentary remains are referred to Ch. (Chilotherium), which reaches in Bulgaria the westernmost limit of its range.Acerorhinus is well represented at Kalimantsi, but this genus probably deserves revision.An unexpected discovery is that of Brachypotherium at Ahmatovo, its latest known occurrence in Europe.The horned rhinos, Ceratotherium and Dihoplus, co-occur at two localities.This relatively great diversity points to a variety of environments, as it is unlikely that the main fossil faunas are very different in age.It also reflects the geographic position of Bulgaria, where the ranges of the mainly Asiatic Chilotherium, of the Pontic Acerorhinus and of the Balkano-Iranian Ceratotherium overlap, in addition to a possible immigration of Brachypotherium from Africa into Europe.