Giant Unicorns Of Ancient China
This is the skull (V 18539) of Sinotherium lagrelii from the Linxia Basin, northwestern China.
Credit: ©Science China Press
Previously, S. lagrelii was only represented by cranial and mandibular fragments and isolated teeth from Late Miocene deposits in China (Baode County, Shanxi Province), Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, so its horn situation was unknown. S. lagrelii is the closest to the Pleistocene Elasmotherium in dental morphology, but the nature of its frontal horn was undetermined. This skull proves that S. lagrelii has a posteriorly displaced nasofrontal horn, derived from the configuration seen in early elasmotheres. It also has a smaller frontal horn so it differs from both Ningxiatherium (single nasal horn) and Elasmotherium (single frontal horn). It is a morphological intermediate in the nasal-to-frontal horn transition of elasmotheres that connects the evolution and biogeography of the derived elasmotheres (Figure 2).
This is a series of elasmothere species displaying an increase in skull size and development from a nasal horn to a frontal horn
Illustration by Chen Yu
The nasofrontal area of the skull is strongly elevated, rough, and forms a huge and hollow dome, in sharp contrast to the flat, smooth area in large nasal-horned elasmotheres, such as Iranotherium, Parelasmotherium, and Ningxiatherium. This reduces the weight of the nasal and frontal bones. The nasal horn boss is shifted posterior to reach the frontal bone and connect to the frontal horn boss.
The skull exhibits enormous occipital condyles, similar to other large nasal-horned elasmotheres and giant rhinos, indicating their dolichocephalic and heavy skulls. The longer skull yields great torque on the necks of elasmotheres. To retain a huge horn, elasmothere development followed two steps. First, the nasal horn shifted posteriorly to become the frontal horn and second, the dolichocephalic skull became the brachycephalic. Both changes occurred in the skull of Elasmotherium, so its occipital condyles were smaller compared to Sinotherium, and its second premolars were lost.
This is a habitat reconstruction of Sinotherium lagrelii in the Linxia Basin during the Late Miocene
Credit: ©Science China Press, illustration by Chen Yu)
In the previous phylogenetic analyses, the position of S. lagrelii was incompletely determined because there was no skull. Given the new discovery, the cranial characteristics of S. lagrelii place it within the monophyletic group including Sinotheriumlagrelii, Elasmotherium sibericum, and E. caucasium. In this group, S. lagrelii is the most basal and connects elasmotheres possessing only a nasal horn with elasmotheres possessing only a frontal horn. This is consistent with the clade originating by the Late Miocene in China as well as Elasmotherium separating from Sinotherium in the Pliocene.
The distribution of Sinotherium in East Asia is similar to the Hipparion steppe fauna in the Late Miocene. The dolichocephalic skull, posteriorly inclined occipital surface, well-developed secondary folds, massive cement filling, and wrinkled enamel provided a means for the cheek teeth of Sinotherium to resist the abrasion of high-fiber diets and allowed it to graze on tough grasses. Sinotherium was a large rhinoceros much heavier (up to 7 tonnes) than the largest modern African white rhino (3.2.6 tonnes).
This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
See the article: Deng T, Wang S Q, Hou S K, 2013. A bizarre tandem-horned elasmothere rhino from the Late Miocene of northwestern China and origin of the true elasmothere. Chinese Science Bulletin, 58(15): 1811-1817. http://csb.scichina.com:8080/kxtbe/EN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=507783
Contacts and sources:
Deng Tao
Science China Press
Source: http://nanopatentsandinnovations.blogspot.com/2013/06/giant-unicorns-of-ancient-china.html
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