The earliest immigration of woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta tologoijensis, Rhinocerotidae, Mammalia) into Europe and its adaptive evolution in Palaearctic cold stage mammal faunas

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe cold adapted larger mammal faunas of Pleistocene Eurasia (the so-called Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunas) were mainly composed of autochthonous Palaearctic elements. Whereas the history of the immigration and evolution of European woolly mammoths has been exhaustively studied, comparable investigations for woolly rhinoceroses are lacking. Referring to the remains of European and Asian Coelodonta in general and the first skull to be found of a European woolly rhinoceros of early Middle Pleistocene age (from Bad Frankenhausen, Germany) in particular, the occurrence, dispersal, morphological evolution and ecological adaptation of early Coelodonta are reviewed. Coelodonta originated around 2.5 Myr BP north of the Himalayan-Tibetan uplift. The genus was restricted in its range to different types of steppe landscapes of continental Asia for more than two million years and it wasn't until MIS 12, when extended phases of low temperature and aridity prevailed in western Eurasia that woolly rhinoceroses comparable to Coelodonta tologoijensis spread westward towards Central Europe for the first time. Coelodonta entered Central and, in several cases, Western Europe during all of the subsequent Middle to Late Pleistocene cold stages. Morphological evolution, in particular, the elongation and narrowing of the head and successively its lower and more inclined posture, the shift of the orbits towards the rear of the skull, and changes in the position and morphology of the tooth row concurrently indicate progressive adaptations to an efficient grazer. During the course of their Plio-/ Pleistocene evolution, Coelodonta rhinoceroses changed strikingly from cursorial mixed feeders of central Asian origin to graviportal, highly specialised grazers, inhabiting huge belts of tundra-steppe-like environments during dry and cool to cold periods, and thus becoming the only rhinocerotid to join the Eurasian mammoth faunas. The Bad Frankenhausen Coelodonta record dates the initial formation of a pan-Eurasian Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex to about 460 kyr BP.

Palaeoenvironmental research at Rexidora Cave: New evidence of cold and dry conditions in NW Iberia during MIS 3

“…The presence of Coleodonta antiquitatis, a species strictly associated with open environments, indicates cool to cold and dry climatic conditions (Kahlke and Lacombat, 2008). Dentition and other anatomical features show that this species was well adapted to feeding on grasses and other low growing vegetation (Stuart and Lister, 2012), which also was supported by the analysis on the stomach contents of the Kolyma rhinoceros carcass, consisting mainly in grass and Artemisia (Boeskorov et al, 2011).…”

A bizarre tandem-horned elasmothere rhino from the Late Miocene of northwestern China and origin of the true elasmothere

“…The skull roof is very concave like that of Elasmotherium, and the occiput is relatively high and over-hanging the occipital condyles, indicating a posteriorly inclined occipital surface (Figure 1(b)). The situation of the occipital surface resembles those in other elasmotheres [3,12,13,24] or woolly rhinos [30,31], and is more inclined than in modern Asian and black rhinos [23]. Rhinoceroses with an occiput strongly inclined postero-dorsally and a nuchal crest extending beyond the condyles are thought to graze, i.e.…”

Reassessing the sedimentary deposits and vertebrate assemblages from Ponte Galeria area (Rome, central Italy): An archive for the Middle Pleistocene faunas of Europe

“…3), which is correlated with the sedimentary section of Torre del Pagliaccetto, hosting the faunal assemblage of the Aurelia FU (Gliozzi et al, 1997). This period is characterized in Europe by the appearance of the Mammuthus-Coelodonta Faunal Complex (Kahlke, 1999;Kahlke and Lacombat, 2008;Kahlke et al, 2011) that occurs in Italy only during the last glaciation (MIS 4) (Petronio et al, 2007;Pandolfi and Tagliacozzo, 2013). Moreover, typical Aurelian taxa such as C. lupus, U. spelaeus, and M. giganteus occur in Italy later (during MIS 9) than in other European localities (during MIS 11).…”

“…At the same time, the European mammal record is characterized by the occurrence of the Mammuthus-Coelodonta Faunal Complex (Kahlke, 1999;Kahlke and Lacombat, 2008;Kahlke et al, 2011); the latter occurs in Italy only during the last glaciation (MIS 4) (Petronio et al, 2007;Pandolfi and Tagliacozzo, 2013). B. murrensis reached Central Italy during MIS 9 (Anzidei et al, 2012) probably from Central Europe where it occurred around MIS 11 (Berckhemer, 1927;Franzen and Koenigswald, 1979;van Dam et al, 1997).…”