Ceratotherium (from Greek: keras κέρας "horn" and thērion θηρίον "beast") is a genus within the family Rhinocerotidae. It comprises one living species, the white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), and several extinct fossil species that trace its evolutionary lineage.
Taxonomy and evolution
The genus Ceratotherium belongs to the tribe Dicerotini (also spelled Diceroti) or subtribe Dicerotina, indicating a closer evolutionary relationship to the genus Diceros (which includes the black rhinoceros) than to other extant rhinoceros genera.
The evolutionary history of Ceratotherium includes several recognized and debated fossil species:
- Ceratotherium mauritanicum: An extinct species known from the Pleistocene of North Africa. Some Pliocene East African remains, alternatively attributed by some authors to Ceratotherium efficax, are sometimes included in C. mauritanicum. Depending on the inclusion of these East African materials, C. mauritanicum has been considered either ancestral to the modern white rhinoceros or a distinct evolutionary offshoot.
- Ceratotherium praecox: Remains from the Late Miocene and Pliocene (approximately 7–3 million years ago) of East Africa were once assigned to this species. However, C. praecox is now largely considered a member of the genus Diceros (as Diceros praecox), primarily because its type material aligns more closely with that genus. Some fossil material historically attributed to C. praecox may still represent true, albeit currently unassigned, Ceratotherium material.
- "Ceratotherium" douariense: From the Late Miocene of Tunisia (around 7 million years ago). Its assignment to Ceratotherium is debated, with some authors placing it in Diceros (as Diceros douariensis).