Epiaceratherium

Epiaceratherium was one of the first rhinoceros genera to reach Europe after the Grande Coupure. In 2013 the species Epiaceratherium naduongense was described from Na Duong Basin in northern Vietnam, dating to the mid-late Eocene (~39–35 million years ago). In 2021, the species Molassitherium delemontense originally described in 2013 from late Early–early Late Oligocene deposits in Germany, Switzerland, France, was reassigned to Epiaceratherium. While sometimes considered to be a member of Rhinocerotinae (and thus more closely related to living rhinoceroses than to Elasmotheriinae), recent phylogenetic studies have recovered Epiaceratherium as primitive basal rhinocerotid, outside the split between Aceratheriinae, Elasmotheriinae and crown group Rhinocerotinae. Cladogram after Lu, Deng and Pandolfi, 2023:}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} == Description ==

Epiaceratherium is distinctive from other basal rhinocerotids in lacking a lower third incisor (i3) as well as a lower canine, among a number of other characters of the premolar and molar teeth. The genus was relatively small in comparison to modern rhinoceroses with Epiaceratherium magnum and Epiaceratherium bolcense estimated to weigh and respectively in a 2015 study. The hindfeet had three digits with hooves, while the forefeet had four, unlike modern rhinoceros. == References ==