Diceros

Diceros is more closely related to the genus Ceratotherium (which contains the white rhinoceros) than it is to other living rhinoceroses, with the clade containing the two comprising the tribe Dicerotini (also spelled Diceroti) or subtribe Dicerotina.

Diceros has been suggested by some authors to have branched off from an early species of Ceratotherium, specifically C. neumayri,{{cite journal|author=Geraads, Denis|year=2005|url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/63167/filename/Geraads196.pdf|title=Pliocene Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from Hadar and Dikka (Lower Awash, Ethiopia), and a revision of the origin of modern African rhinos|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0451:PRMFHA]2.0.CO;2|jstor=4524458|volume=25|pages=451–461|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|issue=2}} which has also been assigned to Diceros in some studies. However, other authors have disputed the close relationship between Diceros and "C". neumayri.

The oldest species assigned to the genus is "Diceros" australis from the Early Miocene of Namibia,Guérin C (2000) The Neogene rhinoceroses of Namibia. Palaeontol Africana 36:119–138 dating to around 17-18 million years ago.{{Cite journal |last=Handa |first=Naoto |last2=Nakatsukasa |first2=Masato |last3=Kunimatsu |first3=Yutaka |last4=Nakaya |first4=Hideo |date=2019-02-07 |title=Additional specimens of Diceros (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Upper Miocene Nakali Formation in Nakali, central Kenya |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2017.1362560 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=262–273 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2017.1362560 |issn=0891-2963}} It is only known from fragmentary remains, and its assignment to the genus, and even to Dicerotini have been questioned by other authors.{{Citation |last=Giaourtsakis |first=Ioannis X. |title=The Fossil Record of Rhinocerotids (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Rhinocerotidae) in Greece |date=2022 |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_14 |work=Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 2 |pages=409–500 |editor-last=Vlachos |editor-first=Evangelos |access-date=2023-11-20 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_14 |isbn=978-3-030-68441-9}} Other species assigned to the genus include Diceros praecox from the Late Miocene (from about 7 million years ago) and the Pliocene of Sub-Saharan Africa. D. praecox has been suggested by some authors to be the ancestor of the modern D. bicornis.{{cite journal |author=Geraads, Denis |year=2005 |title=Pliocene Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from Hadar and Dikka (Lower Awash, Ethiopia), and a revision of the origin of modern African rhinos |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/file/index/docid/63167/filename/Geraads196.pdf |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=451–461 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0451:PRMFHA]2.0.CO;2 |jstor=4524458}} Diceros primaevus is known from the Late Miocene (c. 12-10 million years ago) of Algeria. Diceros douariensis is known from the Late Miocene of Tunisia and possibly Ethiopia. Some authors have assigned this species to Ceratotherium.Pandolfi (2018). [https://www.fossiliajournal.com/volumes/fj010p27322018 Evolutionary history of Rhinocerotina (Mammalia, Perissodactyla).] Fossilia, Volume 2018 The species Diceros gansuensis has been reported from the Late Miocene of China,DENG Tao, QIU Zhan-Xiang . First Discovery of Diceros (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) in China [J]. Vertebrata Palasiatica, 2007, 45(4): 287-306. dating to around 10 million years ago. The earliest remains assigned to the modern black rhinoceros are known the Late Miocene (around 7 million years ago) of East Africa, though other authors have considered the earliest remains of the species to date to the earliest Pleistocene around 2.6 million years ago at Koobi Fora, Kenya.Geraads, D., 2010. [http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1289601282 Rhinocerotidae] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204161233/http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=refs&CODE=ref_detail&id=1289601282|date=4 February 2022}}, in: Werdelin, L., Sanders, W.J. (eds), Cenozoic mammals of Africa. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 669-683

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Category:Rhinoceroses

Category:Mammal genera

Category:Mammal genera with one living species

Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray

Category:Taxa described in 1821

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