''Parelasmotherium'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

es that lived in Northern China about 11.1 million years ago in the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

. With its large body and its

hypsodont Hypsodont is a pattern of dentition with high-crowned teeth and enamel extending past the gum line, providing extra material for wear and tear. Some examples of animals with hypsodont dentition are cows and horses; all animals that feed on gritt ...

grazing teeth, it belonged to the subfamily Elasmotheriinae and was a relative of the later ''

Elasmotherium ''Elasmotherium'' is an extinct genus of large rhinoceros endemic to Eurasia during Late Miocene through the Pleistocene, existing at least as late as 39,000 years ago in the Late Pleistocene. A more recent date of 26,000 BP is considered ...

'', which was widespread over large parts of northern Asia in the

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 ...

. It was named in 1923 and was once considered to be a synonym of ''

Sinotherium ''Sinotherium'' ("Chinese Beast") is a genus of single-horned elasmotheriine rhinoceros that lived from the late Miocene (Tortonian - Messinian) to Early Pliocene. It was ancestral to ''Elasmotherium,'' demonstrating a very important evolutionar ...

''. Three species of this genus have been named, although analysis of their teeth in 2022 suggested that two of them (''P. simplum'' and ''P. linxiaense'') are not closely related to the remaining species and should be placed in a separate genus.

History

Hugo Killgus established the genus ''Parelasmotherium'' in 1923, as a giant elasmotheriine rhinoceros to which he assigned the species ''Parelasmotherium schansiense'' based on fossil remains that were collected from Shanxi, China.

References

{{italictitle Prehistoric rhinoceroses Prehistoric placental genera Miocene rhinoceroses Miocene mammals of Asia Fossils of China Fossil taxa described in 1923