''Nesorhinus philippinensis'' is a

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

-aged species of

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

endemic to the Philippine islands. Fossil remains were found in modern day

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

and

Kalinga Kalinga may refer to: Geography, linguistics and/or ethnology * Kalinga (historical region), a historical region of India ** Kalinga (Mahabharata), an apocryphal kingdom mentioned in classical Indian literature ** Kalinga script, an ancient writin ...

. It is estimated to have weighed around or less than 800kg, or at least a bit larger than the still-extant

Sumatran rhinoceros The Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis''), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros. It is the o ...

. The species was first described by

Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald Gustav Heinrich Ralph (often cited as G. H. R.) von Koenigswald (13 November 1902 – 10 July 1982) was a German-Dutch paleontologist and geologist who conducted research on hominins, including ''Homo erectus''. His discoverie ...

in 1956 based on

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

teeth that were excavated in

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...

province of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1936. These bones were lost and he did not provide for a

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

. In 2021, this species, along with "''Rhinoceros sinensis''" ''hayasakai'', were transferred to the new genus ''

Nesorhinus ''Nesorhinus'' is a genus of rhinocerotid perissodactyl from the Pleistocene of Asia. It contains two species, ''Nesorhinus philippinensis'' from Luzon, Philippines and ''Nesorhinus hayasakai'' (formerly ''Rhinoceros sinensis hayasakai'') from T ...

''.

Fort Bonifacio fossil

A fossilized jaw of ''N. philippinensis'' was unearthed by Mr. de Asis on May 13, 1965 in the

Fort Bonifacio Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly named Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is located near the national headquarter ...

area. The specimen was unearthed from an ash deposit produced by the volcano called the Guadalupe Formation. The specimen had a length of , width of , and a thickness of . It has a weight of .

Kalinga fossil

A 75-percent complete fossil of the ''N. philippinensis'' was unearthed in

Rizal Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...

along with 57 stone tools in 2014. A 2018 study placed the date of the rhino fossil at around 709 thousand years old after the rhino's tooth enamel was subjected to

electron spin resonance dating Electron spin resonance dating, or ESR dating, is a technique used to date materials which radiocarbon dating cannot, including minerals (carbonate, e.g., carbonates, silicates, Sulfate, sulphates), biological materials (e.g., tooth enamel), archae ...

. The authors of the study found butchery marks on the bones of the ribs, metacarpals and both humeri suggesting that the rhino had been butchered by early humans or

hominins The Hominini form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae ("hominines"). Hominini includes the extant genera ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos) and in standard usage excludes the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas). The t ...

. While no bones from any hominin were reported from the site, over 50 stone tools found in context with the rhinoceros provided direct evidence for human activities at the site.

References

Mammals described in 1956 Pleistocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene rhinoceroses Fossil taxa described in 1956 Prehistory of the Philippines Paleontology in the Philippines {{paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub