The fossils were collected in the Chitarwata Formation of Dera Bugti, where Pilgrim had previously been exploring. His material consisted of an upper jaw, lower teeth, and the back of a jaw. The first fossils now recognised as Paraceratherium were discovered by the British geologist Guy Ellcock Pilgrim in Balochistan in 1907–1908. The first known indricothere fossils were collected from Balochistan (in modern-day Pakistan) in 1846 by a soldier named Vickary, but these fragments were unidentifiable at the time. bugtiense, which was the basis for its separation from the genus Aceratherium (left), and an incisor and part of a mandible (right)Įarly discoveries of indricotheres were made through various colonial links to Asia. ġ911 illustrations of the down-turned lower jaw of P. Many genera were named on the basis of subtle differences in molar tooth characteristics-features that vary within populations of other rhinoceros taxa-and are therefore not accepted by most scientists for distinguishing species. Inaccurate geological dating previously led scientists to believe various geological formations that are now known to be contemporaneous were of different ages. The opposing taxonomic tendencies of " lumping and splitting" have also contributed to the problem. Scientists from different parts of the world tried to compare their finds to get a more complete picture of these animals, but were hindered by politics and wars. The taxonomic history of Paraceratherium is complex due to the fragmentary nature of the known fossils and because Western, Soviet, and Chinese scientists worked in isolation from each other for much of the 20th century and published research mainly in their respective languages. transouralicum may be due to sexual dimorphism, which would make them the same species. transouralicum, so most reconstructions of the genus are based on it. Most modern scientists consider these genera to be junior synonyms of Paraceratherium, and it is thought to contain the following species P. Other genera of Oligocene indricotheres, such as Baluchitherium, Indricotherium, and Pristinotherium, have been named, but no complete specimens exist, making comparison and classification difficult. The taxonomy of the genus and the species within has a long and complicated history. The reasons for the animal's extinction are unknown, but various factors have been proposed. It lived in habitats ranging from arid deserts with a few scattered trees to subtropical forests. It was a browser, eating mainly leaves, soft plants, and shrubs. Because of its size, it would have had few predators and a long gestation period. The lifestyle of Paraceratherium may have been similar to that of modern large mammals such as the elephants and extant rhinoceroses. It had large, tusk-like incisors and a nasal incision that suggests it had a prehensile upper lip or proboscis (trunk). The long neck supported a skull that was about 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) long. Its weight is estimated to have been about 15 to 20 tonnes (33,000 to 44,000 lb). The shoulder height was about 4.8 metres (15.7 feet), and the length about 7.4 metres (24.3 feet). The exact size of Paraceratherium is unknown because of the incompleteness of the fossils. Paraceratherium means "near the hornless beast", in reference to Aceratherium, the genus in which the type species P. The first fossils were discovered in what is now Pakistan, and remains have been found across Eurasia between China and the Balkans. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed and lived from the early to late Oligocene epoch (34–23 million years ago). Paraceratherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids belonging to the family Paraceratheriidae. Benaratherium callistratum Gabunia, 1955.Pristinotherium brevicervicale Birjukov, 1953.Indricotherium asiaticum Borissiak, 1923.Indricotherium transouralicum Pavlova, 1922.
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