Diceros praecox
{{Short description|Extinct species of rhinoceros}}
{{Speciesbox
|fossil_range = Pliocene
|image =
|image_caption =
|extinct = yes
|genus = Diceros
|species = praecox
|authority = Hooijer & Patterson, 1972
| synonyms =
Ceratotherium praecox
}}
Diceros praecox is an extinct species of rhinoceros that lived in Africa during the Pliocene, around 4 million years ago.{{cite book |last1=Kingdon |first1=Jonathan |title=Mammals of Africa: Volumes I-VI |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781408189962 |page=455}} It has been suggested to be the direct ancestor of the living black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis).
Taxonomy
Diceros praecox has for many years been classified as Ceratotherium praecox, however the original material describing the species has been shown to be closer to the black rhinoceros in its skull morphology. Other material showing greater similarities with the white rhinoceros are considered to belong to a different species, Ceratotherium mauritanicum.{{cite book |last1=Werdelin |first1=Lars |last2=Sanders |first2=William Joseph |title=Cenozoic Mammals of Africa |date=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520257214 |page=679}} D. praecox has been suggested to have arose from Ceratotherium 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}} however the close relationship between C. neumayri and Diceros has been disputed 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|url-access=subscription }}
Description
The teeth of D. praecox are similar to those of Ceratotherium neumayri. However, the longer skull suggests increased browsing specialization. The break-off of Diceros from Ceratotherium probably indicates ecological divergence and character displacement between browsing versus grazing specializations.
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Fossil taxa described in 1972
Category:Pliocene mammals of Africa
Category:Pliocene rhinoceroses
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