Dicerorhinus
kirchbergensis
Class Mammalia,
Order Perissodactyla, Family Rhinocerotidae
Geological
Time: Pleistocene
Size: Fossil
molar is 2 5/8 x 2 ¼ x 2”
Fossil Site:
Em Stage, River Rhine, Worms, Germany
Fossil Code:
PFV372
Price: Sold
Description:
Presented is a robust Rhino molar. It is sturdy and solid. The
molar is complete with good color, enamel and presence.
The
rhinoceros Merck (Dicerorhinus kirchbergensis) is an extinct
species
of rhinoceros well known from dozens of Pleistocene fossils found
in much of Europe and Asia, ranging from Portugal to China.
This animal belonged
to the genus Dicerorhinus that now only survives as the Sumatran
rhino, and is in danger of extinction. Merck's rhinoceros
(so named because at one time it was named Dicerorhinus merckii)
inhabited forest ecosystems with abundant water, feeding on
shrubs
and low tree branches. To do so, it had a beaked lip similar to
the African black rhinoceros. This specialization allowed the
Merck's
rhinoceros to survive in another rhino habitat, the steppe.
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