A fragmentary femur of the Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the lower Miocene Yotsuyaku Formation of the Shiratorigawa Group, Ichinohe, Iwate Prefecture, Northeast Japan is redescribed, and the fossil record of Japanese early Miocene rhinocerotids, including footprints, is briefly reviewed. The femur is identified as belonging to an indeterminate species of rhinocerotid, cf. Aceritherini, in having the distal portion of the base of the lesser trochanter situated near the apex of the third trochanter and a less projected third trochanter than in most rhinocerotids. Since ca. 20 Ma, rhinocerotids have inhabited and been widely distributed in Japan, which formed an eastern margin of continental East Asia at that time.
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1 July 2020
Reappraisal of a Rhinocerotid (Mammalia, Perissodactyla) from the Lower Miocene Yotsuyaku Formation, Northeast Japan, with an Overview of the Early Miocene Japanese Rhinocerotids
Naoto Handa
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Paleontological Research
Vol. 24 • No. 3
July 2020
Vol. 24 • No. 3
July 2020
Early Miocene
femur
Iwate Prefecture
Japan
Perissodactyla
Rhinocerotidae