''Prosantorhinus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

rhinocerotid A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

that lived during the Early and

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

subepochs. The small teleoceratine rhinocerotid was found in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Description

''Prosantorhinus'' was a similarly sized animal to the

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 ...

, it stood at around at the shoulder and was about long, weight estimates however are considerably bigger due to its considerably deeper chest. The body plan of ''Prosantorhinus'' is stubbier than that of other rhinocerotids, and its brachyodont molars would seem to suggest ''Prosantorhinus'' led a semiaquatic life, similar to a

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

, possibly feeding on fresh water plants. The tooth eruption sequence of ''P. germanicus'' was identical to that of the present-day

black rhinoceros The black rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis''), also called the black rhino or the hooked-lip rhinoceros, is a species of rhinoceros native to East Africa, East and Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Moza ...

, suggesting that it was a slow-growing and long-lived mammal. The rugged texture at the tip of its snout could suggest the existence of one, maybe two, small horns; however it has been traditionally reconstructed with a fleshy bump.

Palaeoecology

Study of the dental mesowear and microwear of ''P. douvillei'' reveals that it was a folivorous browser.

References

Miocene rhinoceroses Prehistoric mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Asia {{paleo-oddtoedungulate-stub