Brachypotherium Explained

Brachypotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotid that lived in Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene.^[1]

Many species of Brachypotherium have been described. Some species have moved to other genera, such as B. aurelianense being transferred to Diaceratherium.^[2] The genus was widespread during the Early and Middle Miocene, before heading into a decline. They went extinct in Eurasia by the beginning of the Late Miocene, with the African species B. lewisi surviving until the end of the epoch.^[3]

A first upper decidual molar referable to Brachypotherium brachypus was found during gold mining in New Caledonia during the 19th century, being misidentified as a species of marsupial known as Zygomaturus.^[4] However, rhinoceros were never native to New Caledonia, and the tooth likely originates from France and was probably used as jewelry by a French convict deported there.^{[5] [6]}

Notes and References

1. Wilson . R. . Importance of the field occurrence of the rhinocerotid Brachypotherium americanum Yatkola and Tanner, 1979 . 10.1080/02724634.1993.10011507 . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 13 . 2 . 270 . 1993 . 1993JVPal..13..270W .
2. Book: Prothero . Donald R. . The Evolution of North American Rhinoceroses . 2005 . Cambridge University Press . 9780521832403 . 97.
3. Handa . N. . Brachypotherium perimense (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Miocene of Nakhon Ratchasima, Northeastern Thailand, with comments on fossil records of Brachypotherium . Historical Biology . 2020 . 33 . 9 . 1642–1660 . 10.1080/08912963.2020.1723578. 214240702 .
4. Guerin . Claude . Winslow . John H. . Piboule . Michel . Faure . Martine . January 1981 . Le prétendu rhinocéros de Nouvelle Calédonie est un marsupial (Zygomaturus diahotensis nov. sp.) . Geobios . 14 . 2 . 201–217 . 10.1016/s0016-6995(81)80004-6 . 0016-6995.
5. Antoine . Pierre-Olivier . March 2012 . Pleistocene and Holocene rhinocerotids (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Indochinese Peninsula . Comptes Rendus Palevol . 11 . 2–3 . 159–168 . 2012CRPal..11..159A . 10.1016/j.crpv.2011.03.002 . 1631-0683.
6. Affholder . Oscar . Antoine . Pierre-Olivier . Beck . Robin M.D. . September 2024 . The “Diahot Tooth” is a Miocene rhinocerotid fossil brought by humans to New Caledonia . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . en . 31 . 3 . 10.1007/s10914-024-09723-6 . 1064-7554.